Suit of Iron, Heart of Glass
by BreezeInMonochromeNight
Summary: She was volatile, self-obsessed, and didn't play well with others. She could admit that. So...why was she here again? And better yet, why was just being in the presence of the one person that had always eclipsed her getting under her skin this much? Slightly AU due to possible post-movie fem!Tony/Steve. No OC.
1. Of Stuttgart and Awkward Introductions

**Ok...so just experimenting with something...I had to get it out of my head so I could get get back to working on my other stories. **

**Hope you all like it! It was kind of a have to. I don't think I've seen this done much so yeah. I love Tony/Steve so I wanted to try my hand at it... with a twist.**** I got inspired by the Earth-3490 universe and Natasha Stark. Look it up if you've never heard of it, it's really interesting!**** XD**

**I'm working on a slash fic too, because I have so many ideas. And free time! X3**

* * *

If there was one thing Toni Stark was known for (and she was known for many, many things), it was making an entrance, Iron Man suit or not.

"How about some music, JARVIS? Gotta let Miss Romanoff know we're here."

_"Yes ma'am. Do you have a preference?" _

"A little AC/DC never killed anyone. I think we should share with Miss Romanoff and Spangles down there, if you catch my drift."

_"Will do, ma'am."_

Not thirty seconds later 'Shoot to Thrill' was blaring through the carrier craft's speakers. Toni could practically see the Black Widow face palming.

She dropped the Widow a simple "Miss me?" message that didn't need a response and descended to the ground, training everything she had on the suit on Loki.

"Freeze, Reindeer Games." Pretty spiffy jab, if she did say so herself.

Wait, did she really sound like that? If so, the voice of the suit really needed tweaking. It was masculine, since she had wanted to keep her identity a secret originally (she had let that cat out of the bag), but it almost sounded too auto-tuned to her. One more thing to add to the to do list.

Well, at least if she ever got any more criticism as Iron _Man _no one could call it completely ridiculous. Those horns were _quite _ridiculous. So was Captain America's skin tight spangly get up...but those horns? Yeesh.

"...Miss?...Stark." Finally, someone broke the silence as Loki was cuffed and escorted to the carrier. She snapped out of her musings, partially.

"Captain." She nodded. No need to gush. Her father had only practically worshipped the guy and never shut up about him.

She was wasn't bitter, really. Seriously.

Psshh, whatever.

* * *

"So...how do you do it?" Toni had to ask. The ride back was too quiet. She hated the quiet.

And Loki was fucking creepy. And boring holes into her with the stares.

"Do...what?" Cap raised an eyebrow at her.

"The build. Fitting in that...getup. Do you do cardio or...?" If there was another thing Toni Stark was good at, it was being a flirt. And Spangles wasn't exactly unpleasant to look at.

Nothing. Just awkward staring. Sigh.

"Never mind. Guess you missed a lot doing time as a Cap-sicle." She kept a straight face. Ribbing was good, even if she was the only one that found it funny.

It's not like shutting down other people and being a smartass was largely a defense mechanism.

...At least that's what she told herself.

That aside, the thunderstorm had really picked up outside the carrier craft. Even stranger, Loki didn't seem too thrilled about it.

"What's wrong? Scared of a little thunder?" Toni crossed her arms and put on her best smug look.

"...I'm not overly fond of what follows." The reply was kind of odd, to say the least. The expression on Loki's face was one of being mildly perturbed. The Captain had a confused look on his face, almost mirroring her own.

A sudden thunk coming from the top of plane didn't sound good, either.

This was not shaping up to be a good day.

* * *

They finally made it back to the helicarrier. Toni had to admit, it was an impressive structure, at least for S.H.I.E.L.D anyway.

That confrontation with Captain America and Thor had _not _been fun. Thor had almost taken her fucking head off more than once during that...skirmish...and Cap's bright idea to get Thor to hit his shield still had her ears ringing.

If Stars n' Stripes caused any permanent damage, it was gonna be his ass. His cute, shapely ass.

Ahem.

She chalked that awkward, random thought up to not getting laid in quite a while with a tinge of insomnia.

She didn't want to be here longer than she had to.

With Dr. Banner supposedly coming on board and Loki in confinement at thirty-thousand feet in the air, on top of everything else, it was bound to be a pressure cooker situation.

Toni figured this would happen. She just _had _to piss Pepper off when Coulson was trying to get a hold of her. She made a mental note to at least try and not agitate the redhead again...for a while...anyway.

She checked herself in the mirror of the small washroom she was currently occupying. Her fairly short black-brown hair was always messy, and now it was completely disheveled. She even noticed how tired her brown eyes looked. The dark circles, though very slight, did not help either. She ran her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to take out some of the wildness of it.

She finished wrapping the fresh bruise on her arm – the arm Thor had almost crushed through her suit – and headed out into the impending chaos.

God, she needed a drink.

* * *

**I know it's short. But if I get feedback, I might turn this into a story in itself. Who knows! I had so much fun with this. :)**

**'Till next time!**

**xBreeze**


	2. Of Arguments and Bad Memories

**Ahh! I didn't expect this to be so popular! You guys are amazing!**

**Thanks to Archer83, Lunatic's Lament, bandnerd2669, shikakiwi, kakashiluckyblackcat, Ravenclaw Slytherin, HeirxxOfxxMerlin, Kazane Sayuri, Naxbetissa, Nyssa the Anime Queen, elizabeth14, SeranadingSerendipity, Firewolf27, First Lady Lestat, s.g.w.97, and KiwiRainbowStorm for reviewing! I love you guys! ^_^**

**I'm going to follow the movie (with some minor changes/additions) for now, and we'll see what happens. :D**

* * *

Toni had always been an intensely smart young woman (and she was going with that; she'd be damned if she admitted out loud that she was thirty-five), even if some of her decisions could be considered questionable. Or kind of tasteless. Or both.

So, naturally, she didn't completely believe the entire shtick that S.H.I.E.L.D wanted her to buy in to. Why would they need an alien power source? What the hell could they possibly have going that needed _that_ big of a battery to power?

Toni Stark was officially going to make it her business, if she was going to cooperate with them.

As she entered the bridge, she had a plan of attack ready and her game face on. Said game face had become more like a mask, but it would be a cold day in hell before she admitted that.

She talked herself up, commanding the attention of all the people in the room, and even called one poor crewman out on playing _Galaga_. All of her efforts created a distraction while she slipped a microchip that would allow JARVIS to get into S.H.I.E.L.D's mainframe under one of Fury's monitors.

The billionaire took a quick head count of the people in the room, and her stomach knotted just a little when she saw Spangles sitting there. God, he was a beautiful creature, with those baby blues and that chiseled face. Even though she felt heated jealously toward the super soldier (and, hell, possibly a little hatred), she was undeniably physically attracted to him. Her body, and possibly some messed up part of her mind, wanted him.

Who wouldn't?

...Damn her libido.

She had always had a little crush on him as a child, from all the stories her dad had told her, before things got...bad.

However, her thoughts potential sexual conquests would have to wait. Toni turned her sights to Dr. Banner, grinning and extending her hand.

"Dr. Banner, it's a pleasure to meet you. I hear you're the leading expert in gamma radiation. And, I have to admit, I'm also a fan of the way you...y'know...turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Ahh...thanks...I think." The much more humble, taller genius took her hand. She was the shortest one of almost all people in the room, slightly lower than eye level with the Black Widow.

The two began to discuss how to track the tesseract when the deadly red-head chimed in. "When did you become an expert in gamma radiation, Stark?"

Toni's grin widened. "Why, last night, when Coulson decided to ruin my night with homework." She had indeed read everything, even though she had to admit the Captain's file intrigued her the most. She took the question as a rather poor attempt at a jab at her ego from the Widow.

Dr. Banner interrupted the stare down between the two women, clearing his throat. "I've already gotten Fury to get ahold of any lab with spectrometer and have them placed on the roofs, calibrated to track gamma rays. It won't pinpoint this thing but I think we can get close."

Toni paused, thoughtful for a moment. Maybe this wouldn't be so horrible after all, this man knew what he was talking about.

"_Finally_, someone who speaks English!" She couldn't contain her excitement.

Captain Rogers finally piped up, looking confused. "That was English?"

Toni looked at him, fighting the overwhelmig urge to make a dumb blonde joke.

However, that deep, authoritative voice made her knees just a little weak.

_She kind of wondered what that voice would be like whispering scandalous little nothings in her ear._

...She'd never admit any of that either, though.

* * *

Toni and Dr. Banner had been working in the lab for some time in almost total silence after the good doctor had politely declined her offer to work and have free reign at Stark Tower. At this point, the billionaire thought she was going to go mad. Plus, he felt like a sort of kindred spirit to her, so she wanted a chance to pick the non-green doctor's brain.

Most of all, she _hated_ the quiet.

When she was growing up, everything being this eerily quiet meant she was about to pay for something she did or didn't do, mostly from her father.

She winced a little, the physical pain caused in those memories still fresh in her mind, to this day.

Finally breaking the silence for fear of insanity, she asked the unspoken question. "So...what's your secret?"

Silence.

"You know. How do you control...the Hu- the other guy? What's your secret? Yoga, bongo drums, big bag of weed...?" She was genuinely curious.

"Oh, that..." He trailed off, seemingly lost.

Toni didn't like it when people did this to her. In what may have been a bit of a reckless, impulsive decision, she gave a light (and literally shocking) poke to Bruce's side with the small electric prod she'd been holding. She was satisfied with the little yelp of pain and the following laugh and smile she got from him.

"Huh. You really do have a lid on it." She was impressed. Toni had thought that might have upset him a little or at least evoke a little more of a reaction.

Before Bruce could say anything, though, a third party decided to enter the conversation.

"What do you think you're doing?" The woman sighed. Spangles had come off so straitlaced and uptight it was stifling to her.

"Relax, gramps. It was all in good fun." Toni came around the table and stood in front of the Captain, arms crossed in an attempt to make her one hundred and twenty-three pound frame seem a little more intimidating. He was easily double her size, and probably had upwards of a foot on her.

"Really? Endangering the lives of everyone on board this ship, when you should be looking for the tesseract, is 'funny' to you?" Steve's frown deepened and his gaze remained intense, staring down at her with disdain.

That shook her to the bone.

Toni loathed that look and the following shame it caused. Her father always gave her that look, and the same look was now gracing the face of his greatest creation, her childhood hero. The person she wished she was some nights, when she was tending to new bruises. It hurt.

It pissed her her off, of course, but deep down it hurt more than anything. Bad.

Had she been at home (and God did she wish she was right about now), she'd have drank herself into oblivion to stop thinking about it.

Back in her facade, she raised a ridiculously perfect, manicured eyebrow at him and pressed her self closer so that they were chest to chest. She noted to herself that he felt like leaning into a brick wall.

That made Steve falter a bit. He'd never been quite so close to a woman, and Toni was definitely a woman under that short, thick mop of shaggy hair. If the feminine, heart-shaped face didn't tip him off, the skin tight Black Sabbath t-shirt and the equally tight skinny jeans sure did. They left almost nothing to the imagination. He could also see a soft blue circular glow from underneath her shirt.

He found his cheeks tinging the faintest of reds for looking at her like that.

"Look, _Captain_." He did not miss the traces of venom on her voice. "Of all the people in this room right now, who is: A.) wearing a skin tight, Spangly outfit, and B.) not of use? _You're_ the one holding _us_ up."

Toni wasn't backing down. He was a jackass, walking in like he owned the place. This wasn't the forties and she wasn't going to just sit there and take it.

And that was _her_ job, damn it.

Steve softened slightly at Toni's unwillingness to back down. She was stubborn, just like his Peggy had been. She even looked a little like Peggy. Her resemblance to Howard was undeniable, though. She definitely had her father's eyes, as well as his trademark smirk.

He sighed, a little annoyed by the insult and the goose flesh she gave him by being so close.

The arguing continued, and eventually Toni thought she had finally breached that thick skull of his. At some point during it all, Bruce threw his hands up in defeat at the heated conversation and turned back to his work.

"Look, Spangles, do you really think Fury is telling us everything? He's the _spy_ of _spies_. His secrets have secrets. And I intend to find out just what the hell is going on." He was on Toni's last nerve. She was practically glowering at the super soldier at this point. Couldn't he just stand there and look pretty?

Steve ignored the insult, and decided to be the bigger person and leave. That was the easiest way to get the best of people like Toni.

"Just find the cube." He turned on his heel and didn't even bother looking back at her.

After the door shut, Bruce finally decided to chime back in. "You two are a match made in heaven." He kept a straight face, teasing her.

Toni looked at Bruce, doing her best look of exaggerated shock-horror.

"Don't even go there, Banner. Don't."

And on that note, she excused herself. The confrontation had shaken her, to say the least. She needed a second to recompose herself.

...And double up on her anxiety medication.

* * *

**Second chapter's done. Hope you all like it, and hope to hear from ya! Fem!Tony is way too much fun to write. X3**

**xBreeze**


	3. Of Science Buddies and Jealousy

**Oh my God, I'm so flattered you guys like this so much! Thanks to Alerix Slynn, bandnerd2669, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, MissMayHem85, Chaos Babe, MissMaraudersMap, geekypinky, arelando, SerenadingSerendipity, Ravenclaw Slytherin, Kazane Sayuri, elizabeth14, Archer83, kristendotcom, Aggie12, mar, Summerice7 brightcat12, Azure-x-Roze, and Jen Lennon for reviewing! I had no idea this would actually be so well liked! ^_^**

***e-hugs all of you***

**This one's for Summerice7 (sorry, ffnet won't let me spell your name properly)! Sorry for being so late!**

**This was done on an iPhone, as my laptop is down, so PLEASE point out any spelling errors.**

* * *

Doubling up on her anxiety medication had probably been the dumbest thing that Toni had done in a long, long time. That, combined with being on an airship of all places, only served to make her queasy, lightheaded and sensitive to all the artificial light in the lab.

Currently, she was trying to ignore how bad she felt, chipping away at time in the lab with Dr. Banner. She was anxiously waiting for JARVIS to get into S.H.I.E.L.D's mainframe and clue her in on all of Fury's dirty little secrets.

The Captain's disgusted, condescending looks from earlier still weighed in on her mind, as well. Toni hadn't felt so inferior and pathetic in years, not since her parents were alive.

And she _hated _it.

Her mother was seemingly as infatuated with finding 'Captain America: The World's First Super Hero' as her father, if not more with the dreamy looks she'd give off when talking about him. She'd never seen her mother look at her father quite like that. Hell, Toni herself had never gotten _any_ look of adoration from her mother.

For anything.

Period.

She and her mother had never really talked about much other than him.

Needless to say, the mother-daughter relationship had been almost nonexistent; she had grown up as a bit of a tomboy, fending for herself.

Her relationship with her father, on the other hand, had been much, _much _worse. When the various searches for the super soldier had failed, he began to frequently drink. Heavily. Inevitably, that meant she'd catch the brunt end of his anger. At first it had been things she could handle, just yelling and screaming and calling her worthless.

Yelling and screaming, saying he'd wanted a son; someone that could carry on the family name and be more like _Captain America_.

It stung, but she could deal with it.

That would not always be the case, however. It had gradually become physical, from just shoving and pushing around to full blown beatings. There were times it had gotten so bad, the Iron Man pilot had been unable to move the next day.

...All because of Spangles a few doors down, who apparently had as much distaste for her as her father did.

Toni involuntarily shuddered. She tenderly touched the arm that her father had broken (it still ached at times...she hoped arthritis wasn't setting in) one particularly horrific night, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Just who the fuck did he think he was, marching in with his 'as American as apple pie' attitude and treating her like some incompetent grunt he had command over?

She'd be damned if she moved an inch with him; she'd get the last word in if it killed her. Spangles leaving before she could get in a final retort earlier had gotten right under her skin. He'd acted like she would bend to his will, here was no way Anthoni Elizabeth Stark would act like some demure forties housewife and let him step on her.

Though she wouldn't mind playing house with him, back at the tower. Just the two of them. Alone. With her most certainly 'bending' to his 'will'.

…_Oh. God. What. The. Hell?_

_What_ the _hell _was wrong with her, with all the erratic and completely non-logical thoughts? She was oscillating from near-hatred for the blonde to wanting to jump his bones every few seconds.

That scared Toni, more than she'd like to admit.

She was starting to wonder if Howard had hit her a just a little too hard once or twice. Maybe, just maybe, Pepper had been right about her seeing a therapist.

...And since when did she agree with Pepper on anything involving her personal life?

"You okay, Toni?"

The dark haired woman was shaken out of her spaced out state and glanced over at Dr. Banner, who was looking back at her over his glasses.

"Yeah, just peachy Doc. Why do you ask?" Toni went with it, even raising an eyebrow at him in feigned confusion.

Bruce frowned a little, not liking that answer one bit. He simply nodded his head toward her chest and Toni glanced down. Her arc reactor had only a dim glow to it. It was almost hard to see, even through her thin t-shirt.

It was odd being around someone as perceptive and as genius (well, almost...Toni Stark didn't have _peers_) as herself; he'd seen right through her.

_Fuck._

Toni glared at the reactor and thumped it hard, annoyed that was a dead give away to her less-than-stellar physical state. The jolt of pain that shot through her body in response made her yelp and double over.

"Damn..." She muttered, voice strained.

With that, the doctor strode over to the small woman, intent on at least giving her a quick check over. It was obvious she wasn't in good shape. Maybe it had been his time in India, but he felt compelled to try and help.

...And even though Toni could be obnoxious and a smart-ass, as she'd proven with Captain Rogers, he had a feeling there was a good heart under all the flashiness and boldness, somewhere.

"You don't look so hot, Toni. And you haven't said a word in the past hour. Something's wrong."

Not one to give up her usual snark, she instantly had a come back. "I don't look good _and_ I've been a boring lab partner? Why, if I was any less of a woman, Dr. Banner, I might be insulted."

Bruce actually chuckled. That response was typical enough Toni, from what he had seen, but he didn't believe for a second that it was anything more that a well practiced charade.

"Quite the contrary, really." He smiled a little, and took her wrist in his hands, checking her pulse.

Toni rolled her eyes. "I'm not five, y'know. I'm a big girl."

"Never said you weren't." He didn't bother looking up. "Are you on any sort of depressants? Your pulse is really low, and your skin is clammy."

Toni glanced away, flustered, not willing to divulge something that personal. She also wasn't used to attention like this. Sure, she had slept with men before, but she didn't let it go any further than that. This kind of intimacy was new. She had always taken care of her own self or Pepper stepped in and loaned a helping hand, like when she changed the core to the arc reactor for the first time.

Now _that _had been funny. At least in retrospect.

Back to reality, the billionaire spoke. "I'll be_ fine_, Dr. Banner, I promise." Her tone wasn't harsh, or snappy. She wasn't going to argue with him and risk a Hulk-out, not with feeling the way she did now.

He looked up to her, but not without glancing at the glowing reactor in her chest first. It had brightened slightly. His lips quirked into a smile.

Toni just couldn't resist that one.

"I know my rack is a thing of art, but doctor, your staring could make a harlot blush." Sure, her breasts were a little smaller in comparison to say, Natasha, but they were perky and cute and damn it if she wasn't proud of them.

He actually laughed at that, but that did not take away from the seriousness of his next statement. "Whether you hate that arc reactor or not, you're lucky, Toni. Be thankful you can control your power."

Toni instantly looked back at him, features softened. "You're lucky too...I looked at your file. Doc...all that gamma radiation? It should have killed you."

Bruce actually froze for a second. He'd never really thought of it that way, considering the Other Guy more of a curse.

Leave it to Toni Stark of _all _people to put a positive spin on his situation.

He sighed just a little, turning and walking back to the scepter. He removed his glasses and rubbed his temples in a vain attempt to ease the stress headache he felt coming.

Regaining his composure somewhat, he spoke.

"Hey Toni?"

"Yeah?"

"Just call me Bruce." He meant it. It was nice feeling like he had someone he could relate to. She felt like an old friend; there was no need for formalities.

Had he turned around, he'd have seen the flattered look that even Toni couldn't hide. She had always highly respected the doctor's work, and that little extension of camaraderie meant a lot, whether she'd admit it or not.

Toni Stark didn't have many real friends in this world.

* * *

Steve Rogers had decided to a do a little investigating of his own, but not before he spoke to Ms. Stark first. He didn't like the way he acted toward her, and definitely felt like he should apologize. Or attempt an apology, at least.

Even though he did find her attitude insulting, he himself felt guilty. He had never acted that harshly towards a woman before.

However, the super soldier had all inclinations that the genius would not be an easy person to express any regrets to. He'd probably never hear the end of it.

If he was was going to go about this, he'd have to be ready to say his piece and be done before she spoke. He had seen first hand that Toni was the type of person that, if you let her get even a word in edgewise, it was over. She'd continue to talk until she got the last word in.

It didn't help that he found her a little unnerving, in more ways than one.

For one, _look at her. _His artist's eye had not missed a single detail about her. She had a pretty face and curves in all the right places and she wasn't afraid to show it. The tight clothing did nothing but show them off. He had seen scantily clad women, but the fact that she showed no cleavage or leg but still made him flush piqued his curiosity.

Had it not been for her less-than-charming personality, there was a good chance Steve would have been drooling earlier when her shirt had risen up to reveal just a hint of tanned skin and a flat, toned stomach.

Her physical features were mostly getting to him because she looked a little like Peggy...no...a _lot _like Peggy, without the natural grace. In addition, she had Howard's snark, wit, and intelligence.

She quite possibly could surpass the pair, in both looks and sheer genius. She had the best of both worlds, and he liked that, as frustrating as it was.

It was a given that she was Howard's progeny, but was it possible that Peggy was in fact her mother? Could she and Howard...after he...?

Maybe he was just seeing things.

But if it was true, it was bittersweet. He was glad that Peggy had found someone that he had thought of as good person, that could take care of her, but it was still sad to have concrete evidence that she _had _moved on to another man.

The blonde mentally sighed, his stride quickly taking him up to the lab Toni and Dr. Banner were currently occupying. He was ready to get all of this over with and just go back to his apartment and...well, do nothing special. Continue trying to cope with the present, he guessed.

He never entered the lab, though. Walking up to the door, he saw the two scientists through the glass, much closer than he would have liked. Banner was in front of Toni, looking down, and Toni was blushing and looking away.

His feet felt frozen to the floor, and he found some deep part of him getting incredibly angry and upset. He didn't like the closeness of the pair one bit.

Finally tearing his gaze away and willing his body to start moving again, the living legend stalked off, past the lab, to the lower levels of the airship.

He would never have guessed that Toni had seen a blur of red, white, and blue pass, and her heart had skipped a beat.

* * *

**UGH! Now I want to do a Fem!Tony x Bruce fic! Thoughts? Ideas? Review and let me know! I like to cater to you guys. After all, you're the ones reading this. ^_^**

**Check out my other work, too! I'd love to hear what you think.**

**I also think Jealous!Steve is fathomable. He was so pissy on the ship in the movie...**

**'Till****eeze**** next time!**  
**xBr**


	4. Of Defense Mechanisms and Chaos

**I can't even...oh my God. 38 reviews for chapter three? Are you serious? I could totally cry right now. You guys are amazing. Seriously. I NEVER would have thought this story would have gotten the positive feed back it has. I want to thank each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart. I hope I can keep delivering chapters that are up to your expectations! LOVE YOU ALL. ^_^**

**Thanks to Ravenclaw Slytherin, Summerice7, kittymitten, eilizabeth14, AimTheFlame, HeirxxOfxxMerlin, memoriesofrain, patrishis, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, In a silent night, twinkledee, arelando, StartAgainAngel, Psyche102, Gatoconbotas964, NotQuiteSaneInTheMembrane, CherryYume, bandnerd2669, Meota Tsukiko, geekypinky, fangirl, Doreandrix, Alerix Slynn, blown-transistor, SaCcHaRiNeD ChIld, Aggie12, o0oSilverStaro0o, naruke3176, Purple 'N' Blue Wings, Jayfeathers Stick, Archer83, ConfessionsofaRebel, DarkBombayAngel, MoonlightDemoness, RJ North, and the guests for reviewing!**

**I'm sorry this takes so long, I've been in summer school getting my minor and it gets so crazy and hectic...**

**Oh! I also started a Bruce x Fem!Tony story, a ****_Meeting of the Minds_, for those who like the idea and want to check it out. There's only one chapter up so far, but I'm working on an update for that as well.**

**P.S. I've tried to keep the infamous 'argument' scene as close to the original as possible from memory with Fem!Tony's spin on it, so I hope you all enjoy! It was so much harder to reproduce that I originally thought.**

* * *

On the outside, Toni Stark appeared to be nigh unshakeable in any given situation. She had been through damn near everything in her not-too-terribly-long life, from Howard's drunken rampages to Obie's dark turn and her subsequent capture by a terrorist cell to just having to to deal with a heart that didn't really...well...function.

Not without the positively garish reactor implanted in her chest.

Yes, she'd heard all the hush-hush comments from the likes of Christian Dior to Yves Saint Laurent about the arc reactor and the various other ways she 'ruined' their gowns, and she didn't appreciate it.

Pfft, who cared anyway? It wasn't like she was a super model. She was _Toni Fucking Stark_, genius and super hero.

...It would be nice to feel pretty and feminine (and less like a bad science project) for once, though.

Anyway...

With all that being said, that didn't mean she _was _unshakeable on the inside in these situations. Particularly, Toni hated confrontation, even though she seemed to be the cause of a great deal (her mouth tended to run away with her emotions...sometimes) of the incidents she had been involved in.

From experience, being the small-ish woman she was, confrontation meant things typically were not going to work out for her. She was a fit female, yes, the suit didn't pilot itself. However, she wasn't a woman that could really do a whole hell of a lot of damage in a physical altercation.

Not without the Iron Man suit, anyway. She wasn't Wonder Woman. Or Natasha.

Presently, the genius' brilliant mind was pounding against her skull. She was white-knuckling a corner table in the lab and silently pleading with herself not to be sick or pass out. Toni was incredibly worried about Bruce and a potential Hulk-out, as he seemed to be even worse for wear than her. The fact that he was suspiciously close to and protective of Loki's scepter ever-so-slightly freaked Toni the fuck out.

That definitely wasn't Bruce she'd met earlier. Something was really wrong, and she had all beliefs it had to do with that scepter. In addition, Fury doing his best at 'politely' (Toni almost snorted, as if he could be polite) calling her out on her little hacking endeavor did not help her anxieties, either.

"Just exactly what the hell have you been doing, Ms. Stark?"

Toni shrugged nonchalantly, still gripping the table. "No offense, but I'm kinda wondering the same about you."

"I _assumed_ you were tracking the tesseract." He didn't bother to hide his irritation with her. _Just _her, she highly doubted he'd want to piss off Bruce.

"We are. When the scanner gets a hit we'll have the cube within a half mile." Thank God, at least _someone _on this ship had her back.

"Yeah! And you'll have your little cube back, no muss, no fuss." The look Fury sent her way spoke volumes. He couldn't kill her, right? She was too high profile..._right_?

Toni figured at this point that, no, today really couldn't get much worse than this.

As if on cue, Stars, Stripes and Apple Pie came bursting back into the lab with some bad SyFy Original Movie-esque weapon and tossed it up on the table in front of everyone.

Scratch that, today could get worse. Much, _much_ worse.

Without missing a beat, the blonde spoke, deep voice tinged with anger.

"S.H.I.E.L.D's planning to use the tesseract to make HYDRA weapons." He paused for a split second, turning to Toni. "Sorry, computer was a little slow for me."

...Dick.

Despite her over medicated, exhausted state, the genius managed a sneer and an eye roll.

"Look, just because we're gathering all this information on the tesseract does not mean that–"

The computer beeped at that moment and Toni let out a laugh. "I'm sorry, Nick." She turned the screen to him. "What were you saying?"

Busted.

Toni saw that Spangles was visibly disgusted. "I was right after all. The world hasn't changed a bit." The genius frowned. She honestly didn't like that he, out of everyone involved in this, had been lied to. He didn't deserve that.

_Wait, what?_

Fury remained unfazed at the childish behavior, just as annoyed as ever. To add to the already volatile mix of egos, in came Natasha and Thor.

Perfect.

Bruce instantly turned to Natasha, accusing look fixed into place. "You know about any of this?"

The Widow remained cool and collected. "You wanna think about removing yourself from here, doctor?"

He scoffed. "I was already pretty well removed back in Calcutta."

"Loki's in your head, Dr. Banner. He's manipulating you." It was at that moment that Toni was glad that Natasha had never been a hostage negotiator. The thought almost made her snicker out loud.

"And you haven't been? Your tactics aren't that different." Burn. Toni laughed a little. Who'd have thought Banner would've had it in him?

If he got to the Black Widow, though, she didn't show it. "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

He shot an annoyed look her way. "...And I'm not leaving because you're suddenly twitchy."

Toni was thankful for the lull in the heated conversation, but she didn't expect anything that came next. Bruce walked over to one of the screens and turned it, almost a little too angrily, pointing at the weapon schematic JARVIS had found. "Now, I want to know what S.H.I.E.L.D wants to do with weapons of mass destruction."

Fury paused, and actually looked as if he was just a little dumbstruck. If Toni hadn't had the practice of hiding her emotions so well, she was sure her eyebrows would have shot up, possibly off of her forehead at the current clusterfuck.

She never thought she'd see the day Fury would be attempting to tread lightly with someone.

"It's because of him." He pointed at Thor.

"Me? But I don't mean harm to anyone. My people want peace." The Asgardian had a genuinely hurt look crossing his features. Toni almost felt a little sorry for Point Break. He hadn't come off as a bad guy.

...Dumb as a doornail, yes, but not a bad guy.

Whether he noticed Thor's discomfort, Toni wasn't sure, but the S.H.I.E.L.D director didn't miss a beat this time. "Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly..._hilariously_...outgunned."

The argument began to spiral out of control, with everyone throwing in their two cents. Toni, surprisingly, stayed mostly quiet save for a few typical, smart ass comments.

That did the trick. No one seemed to notice her plight, save for one Captain America, who had barely taken his eyes off of her. He had not failed to miss how weak the dark haired woman looked, more so now than when Dr. Banner was checking her out.

The next thing Toni's ears caught was Natasha's unsurprising defense of the agency's tactics. The redhead simply and boldly stated that 'S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats'.

She almost gagged. Brainwashed, much?

Banner chimed in again, in disbelief. "_Captain America _is on a potential threat watch list?"

That runaway mouth? Yeah... It had been (mostly) in check for just a _little _too long. She couldn't resist, sick or not. The billionaire ended up smacking Spangles on the bicep, quickly getting his attention and causing him to raise a brow at her.

_Jesus Christ he was solid._ Her hand actually _hurt. _Shockingly, though, she suppressed the wave of dirty thoughts that came to mind.

"You're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?" She looked at him as innocently as possible.

The Captain only pinched his nose and sighed at her. "I swear to God, Ms. Stark..." She could get under his skin like no other. What had happened to make her such a defensive person? Her personality was such a mask.

"Oooh! Golden Boy swore! Life as we know it is about to end." She spared no amount of sarcasm.

Steve just looked at her blankly, exasperated with her attitude. "And you wonder why no one likes you, _Miss_ Stark? You're the most obnoxious person I've _ever _met."

That was complete and utter bullshit. People _did _like her, damn it! She had Pepper and Happy and Rhodey and...erm...well... that was it.

Toni glared back at him. She wasn't even going to admit to herself how honest he was and how deeply that cut. He just read her, as plain as day, and frankly it scared her. If this man, this legend, this _idol _her fath– _Howard_ helped create had so much distaste for her, then she was going to make him absolutely _hate _her. There would be no gray area.

Toni Stark was excellent at pushing people far, far away.

Fury interrupted the argument. "This was our way of getting some control back on our side."

Thor didn't seem too pleased at the explanation. "You speak of control, yet you court chaos."

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something." The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director was grim in his reply.

Toni was appalled at Fury's logic. "So...that's your answer? A nuclear deterrent? I mean, that always calms everything right down." She crossed her arms and leaned against the table for support.

Fury didn't hesitate firing right back at her. "Remind me again how you made your fortune?"

Before she could reply, Captain Rogers cut her off. "I'm sure if she still made weapons, Ms. Stark would be neck deep..."

Toni's blood was practically boiling at that. Apparently she was damned if she did and damned if she didn't in the eyes of society; in the eyes of everyone. She forced herself up off the table, closing the space between her and the super soldier. "Fuck you, Rogers. _This_ isn't about_ me_."

Rogers actually rolled _his_ eyes at _her_. "I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

Jesus Christ, did her little bit of teasing really piss him off that bad? It wasn't like she was bullying him or anything. He didn't have to retaliate by attacking her character. She really _had _tried to change over the past few years.

"You're a complete jackass, you know that? No wonder you and dear old dad got along so well, you're just alike." It was hard to control her voice from wavering at the mention of _him._

Steve frowned and crossed his arms. "At least your father genuinely did something to help people. You call yourself a hero, but you really only fight for yourself. In reality, you're so self-absorbed and arrogant you don't care who you hurt in the in the process. You'd never lay down on the wire for someone else. He'd be so ashamed of you if he saw you today." Steve regretted the harsh words the instant they rolled off his tongue. The hurt look on her face was enough to let him know that he'd crossed a line of decency that he never should have.

With that, Toni's eyes clouded. She scrubbed at them furiously, desperate not to cry in front of all of these people, in front of Captain Fucking America. "My _father_ was a _monster. _If you knew the Howard _I _did, you wouldn't be singing his fucking praises like some awestruck schoolgirl." She knew her voice was cracking, but she didn't really care.

...At that moment, Toni Stark realized that she would be vilified by almost everyone in the room no matter what she did.

...And in that very same moment, Steve Rogers realized that Toni Stark wasn't a 'bully'. She had been definitely been bullied, and he could relate to that. She was hurting under that obnoxious, arrogant, and downright rude facade, but was just too proud to show it. He instantly backed down, guiltier now than ever.

Fury cut the two off before Steve could try and say anything to the Iron Man pilot. "Agent Romanoff, could you escort Dr. Banner back to his–"

Bruce was quick to cut him off. "Oh, no. You rented my room already."

Fury was cautious, hand easing toward his sidearm. "The cell was only..."

And with that, the doctor snapped. "In case you needed to kill me...but you can't! I'd know, I tried. I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Toni stood there, shocked. She never really thought of Bruce as the type to be suicidal. She had contemplated the act a few times herself, when drunk and when sober, but she'd held the doctor to a higher standard than she did her own self...

Steve saw Dr. Banner lift the scepter and immediately made a move to stand in front of Ms. Stark. She might agitate him to no end and thoroughly get under his skin, but she _was _the only link to the past he had left. Plus, she was only human, and not the healthiest from the looks of it. Again, he could relate.

As calmly as possible, he addressed the angry doctor. "Dr. Banner, please put the scepter down. There's no reason for this."

Bruce looked stunned that he'd actually picked up the alien weapon. It took a second for him to regain his composure. With a humorless laugh he turned to face everyone. "Sorry kids, guess you don't get to see my party trick after all."

Before much else could be said, though, everything went to hell.

The shock wave that ripped through the ship sent an already off-balance Toni flying. She covered her face and head with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut, prepared to slam head first into the tables on the opposite side of the room. The last thing she wanted was to be knocked out cold in the middle of a crisis.

The impact never came, however.

The next thing Toni knew, there was substantial pressure around her lower back and shoulders and her cheek was pressed against something cold. Terrified at the possibility she was was trapped under debris and panic overriding rationality, she jerked her head up and prepared to scream for help (though she kind of doubted anyone would come). She was shocked to find herself staring at a silver star and heard a groan of pain that was much to deep to be her own. It quickly clicked that pressure as coming from two large arms encircling her and that she was resting on something much too warm to be the floor.

Toni found herself blushing for the second time that day.

"...Cap?"

* * *

**Kind of darker than the other chapters, but it had to be done. I just didn't see Toni and Steve getting along too well right now.**

**Oh! And for anyone curious/having a hard time imagining Fem!Tony, this is my favorite rendering:**

**Google "308705815 deviantart" without the quotations. It should be the first result.  
**

**Hope you all like this one! Please review! Reviewing gets chapters up faster! And I love to hear what you think. :)**  
**xBreeze**


	5. Of Guilt and Honesty

**Here we go again. :D**

**I realize that I totally didn't thank anyone in my last chapter, and I'm really sorry I forgot that. :( I went back and put it in though, so I hope that makes up for it!**

**I want to thank all of my reviewers, subscribers, and the favorites I've gotten. I cannot express how wonderful you all are for taking the time to read this (and hopefully enjoy it!).**

**With my reviewers, I want to thank Lunatic's Lament, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, elizabeth14, NotQuiteSaneInTheMembrane, ShinobiTwin05, miissBuffy, Purple 'N' Blue Wings, blown-transistor, Kazane Sayuri, Ravenclaw Slytherin, amy, Epoch95, leafgrl-88, NoNameX, AekoAeviAthan, SamychanX3, Hope, Fox-Sin, Cosmos Angel and Yami Chaos, Archer83, Vivid and the Guests for reviewing! I seriously appreciate all of your kind word and thoughts and I don't think I'd still be updating if it weren't for you all!**

**Oh and to my guest reviewer, amy: the reactor bit was inspired by your review! I hope you like it. :)**

* * *

"...Cap?"

The young captain groaned, the type of groan that Toni _didn't_ like to cause (not usually, anyway), and raised his head slightly.

"You okay, Ms. Stark?"

"Yeah...just peachy." She attempted to lift her head, but found everything to be spinning just a little too much. "I...I need to get to the suit."

"If you can get up, I'll help get you there." The soldier tried to push himself up a little, on to his elbows.

"Er, right." Toni scrambled up, too lightheaded to notice the captain's faint blush or be insulted. She began to walk to the door, only stumbling once, with Rogers quickly getting up follwing close behind.

* * *

Tense situations like these made Toni Stark hate being female.

And human.

That that was also a negative when compared to her superhuman 'teammates'.

At present, she was all but hiding behind Spangles, and the pair were about half way to the Mark VI's docking bay. After a swift elbow to the face from the soldier completely incapacitated once of the dark clad assailants, Toni felt the need to chime in.

"You know, you could give Point Break a run for his money."

He glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowed and glaring slightly.

"Now's not the time for your _unwanted_ commentary!" He almost hissed at the billionaire as he beckoned her forward.

Toni wiped the cold sweat threatening to drip into her eyes, and almost flinched from the look on Roger's face. She probably would have, had she not had experience with that look before.

That was Howard's ever-permanent expression towards her.

...He was _definitely_ Howard's creation.

She almost wondered if this was her divine punishment for her more unsavory actions in life. Toni wasn't a religious person, but damn it if it didn't seem like Howard had a hand in this from the grave.

Or hell.

Wherever that son of a bitch was.

And even bigger, glaring fact was that Captain America, the one person that had given her the strength to endure her fathers rage, frowned upon her and her ways.

That had actually started to eat at her.

The small woman's angry internal tangent and self-loathing only served to bring about more pain on her own self, though. Had Toni pushed the thoughts aside, she likely would have noticed that she was a little too close to a broken steam pipe.

One that promptly scalded her entire lower left arm.

The Iron Man pilot bit back a yell at the immense pain shooting up her arm, expecting more condescending bullshit from Spangles if she did.

Howard had hurt her worse than that, anyway.

Much, _much_ worse.

She kept telling herself that, because Toni Stark refused to look weaker than she had already in front of him. Spangles had ripped into her enough for one day.

So, she cradled her arm protectively, wiith the world still threatening to spin out of control at any moment, and pressed forward.

Captain America didn't spare a single glance back at her.

* * *

Upon making it to the big storage dock for the Mark VI, Toni quickly whipped out her phone and punched in the access code for it.

The dark haired woman took a second to marvel at her creation, the one thing she felt she'd done right. It was a comforting notion.

The suit seemed to catch the captain's attention as well, as he stood staring at it in admiration.

Glancing over to her as the Mark VI's components came apart, the super soldier locked his eyes on to her red and quickly blistering arm.

"What happened there, Ms. Stark?!" He couldn't look away from the completely marred flesh that had been smooth and tan only moments earlier.

"Steam pipe got me back there. Had worse, though." She ignored the alarm in his voice as she (somewhat difficultly) stripped off her shirt and down to a black sports bra, reactor now prominent. She saw him stiffen and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, it's nothing risqué, you're not getting a peep show."

Captain Rogers felt his cheeks tinge pink, but the shock and awe of seeing the reactor up close kept him from looking away.

That thing was..._implanted_...in her? Was she a mad scientist or something?

He made a mental note to ask later.

Toni quickly made her way onto the suit's platform, and as it was snapping into place around her, she looked down to the captain who was still rooted to the spot where he'd been standing.

"I'll be ready in a few seconds. Just get to Engine One and wait for me. I can't do this alone." She hated saying that last bit, but it was true.

He slowly nodded, coming out of his haze.

"Right."

And like that, he was off like a shot.

* * *

As she flew out to the downed engine, Toni did a scan of the damage.

Luckily, the scan proved that it was easily fixable.

Just as unluckily, though, she was certain that it would be a two person job when looking at the schematics...and she had to do it with a man who barely caught a _Wizard of Oz_ reference.

Here went nothing.

"Rogers! I need you to pull out those relays and tell me what you see."

She didn't wait for an answer before flying into the engine and blasting out debris.

"Uhh it...it seems to run on some kind of electricity." She could almost taste the sarcasm in his voice, and would have face palmed if she hadn't been pushing the cooling fan into position.

"Okay, look Spangles, all I need you to do is reset the relays while I jump start the propeller so this scrap heap won't crash."

"Stark, English please!"

Toni audibly huffed and rolled her eyes. "...See that red lever? Go turn it off and stand by until I tell you to turn it on again."

"Okay." Was that _relief _in his voice_?_ Was he serious? "I can do that."

Things wouldn't be go so smoothly, though. Toni managed to get the engine's propellor blades spinning, but as she signaled to her partner, she didn't hear the confirmation she wanted.

"I'm trying! Just hang on!" More of that grunting was all she got after that, before the line crackled out.

Toni's mind raced, panic creeping in. "Rogers! No! Now! _NOW_!"

The next thing Toni knew, she was being sucked under the spinning blades. The pinball machine sounds the Mark VI made against them made her cringe, afraid of the damage this kind of battering was going to cause. On top of that, Toni herself was getting lightheaded and on the verge of blacking out.

"Rogers, _please_."

He hadn't abandoned her _now_, had he? Was she really _that_ bad?

Moments later, she found herself being practically spat out of the turbine as the lever was thrown. Toni quickly fired up the suit's thrusters, intent on getting out of the sky and back on stable ground.

"'Bout time, ya think!" She was seething, speaking through gritted teeth into the comm link.

* * *

The superhero considered herself incredibly lucky that she had the power of both suit and mind to make it back to solid ground.

Well, as solid as a battle-torn airship could be considered.

The suit's HUD was coming and going, and her own vision was as well.

Well, at least she _thought_ it was. There was no way Spangles was standing at the Mark VI's docking bay right now.

...Right?

"Ms. Stark? Are you okay? Your suit took a beating back there." She turned her head to him as she passed by.

"Yeah." It came out in the masculine voice of the suit. "Thanks for that." She started to step on to the platform to remove the battered armor.

The male voice threw the young soldier off for a moment. It had every time since he'd first heard it. He quickly regained his composure, though, intent on explaining why it took so long to throw the lever.

No matter how hard she made it.

"I'm really sorry about. Those guys...they caught me off guard and almost knocked me off the ship." He paused at her surprising lack of response, but quickly decided to continue. "Listen Ms. Stark, about all that stuff I said earlier..." His sentence dropped off at the sight of her.

She looked absolutely pitiful as the suit came off. Toni even bit her lip and tried to poorly suppress a whimper as it peeled away from her burned arm, surely taking skin with it.

Steve suppressed a cringe.

Wearing the Iron Man suit always took a lot out of Toni, and it pulled a lot of energy from the arc reactor. However this particular use of it, coupled with her 'over-indulgence' of medication earlier, intensified her weakened state and made it incredibly apparent to Steve.

Her skin was slick with sweat, and its pallidness made the dark circles around her eyes extremely visible - almost to the point of looking like bruises.

It was certain that there would be no walking this one off for her.

"Save it." She half mumbled the words, curling her injured arm toward her body and stepping a bit too forcefully off the platform. The awkward step caused her to stumble forward to avoid falling in the floor.

Steve could only stare at her, worry over her condition starting to overtake him.

She made her way over to one of the steel containers in the hangar and leaned up against for support, relishing the coolness of it.

"I really didn't...it was just - _dear God_, let me help you to the medical bay." He knew this was bad, really bad. She looked as if she were dying, and it honestly scared him a little.

He didn't want anything to happen to her.

"Just _stop_." The genius leaned her head against the container and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the room to just stop spinning. The blurs of red, white and blue were starting to make her queasy. "You said that shit with brutal honesty, I could see it in your eyes. And you know what? You're right." She took a deep breath to stop the angry tears pricking at her eyes and screwed her lids shut. Toni was exhausted, and some of that locked away feminine emotion was starting to bubble to the surface. "I know I'm a selfish, terrible person. I know I'm not a hero, I'm just a person in a suit of armor. Howard was a monstrous son of a bitch, Rogers..."

The super soldier felt his heart sink a little when her eyes opened. Toni's glassy, dark orbs were stricken with pain and hurt as she shot him a rueful smile. "...did you really expect me to be _any_ different?"

For the first time in a long time Steven Grant Rogers had no plan of action. There was nothing he felt he could say or do to remedy the situation. He didn't know he'd cut her down that deeply. He'd been the one attacking her, bullying her.

...And he felt incredibly guilty.

As much as he wanted to say that it had been Loki influencing all of them, he knew that it would be an outright lie.

The pair simply stood there in awkward silence, until Director Fury came over the comm system, barking in Steve's ear.

"I need anyone that's left on this ship, _anyone_, to report to the main bridge, immediately."

Steve shifted on his feet uncomfortably, not wanting to bother the sick woman again. But when Toni made no motion to leave, he spoke up.

"We need to go to bridge, Director Fury wants us all there."

After a too long pause, Toni finally said something in response. "Just...you go ahead. I'll be there in a moment, I need to get myself together."

He didn't want to leave her alone, but obliged. He knew he'd opposed her enough for quite a while. "...Alright." He turned on his heel and began to go back to central command.

Toni wiped her forehead with her good arm and sank down to the floor, thankful that she'd shooed Rogers away before her legs gave out.

Before _everything_ gave out.

She found her head lolling forward after a few moments and she possesed no energy to correct it. The genius did her best to ease herself down against the floor.

An impromptu catnap wouldn't hurt, would it?

The coldness of the ground felt marvelous to Toni, even more so than the container had. She felt herself rapidly losing consciousness and happily closed her eyes, giving in to the darkness.

Toni Stark really was a strong person, whether she knew it or not.

But sometimes even the strong fall.

* * *

**Chapter 5, in which Steve isn't being a total douche, is a go!**

**The next one will be more from Steve's point of view, so I apologize for the cliffhanger.**

**My fem!Tony x Bruce story has just been updated as well, and so have my OC x Avenger fics. Check 'em out!**

**Reviews also keep me going, and I love to hear from you, so if you have a spare second review! :)**

**xBreeze**


	6. Of Help and Mixed Feelings

Gah, I'm really sorry for my absence, guys. School and moving again and adjusting to life has been kind of crazy. Not to mention I've just recently lost a close family member and have been dealing with that as well. But I'm back, _**nothing is on hiatus**_, and this story is still going (if anyone's still interested!).

Firewolf27, MissMaraudersMap, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, CherryYume, Fox-Sin, Purple 'N' Blue Wings, blown-transistor, NoNameX, grayember13, RJ North, memoriesofrain, Ravenclaw Slytherin, Aye-Aye57, Creatividadqueamo, Archer83, Kazane Sayuri, Nefeli Psycho, elizabeth14, Hitomi Kina Ryuu, BurnedSpy, AllieKatheryn, avengers3, Dragones, moonlightstarangel, bloodygoth23, CherryBlossom713, Yoink Daydurfurits, jamber17, emoprincess-stalker, Ruby Tyra, Kae Gates, Smiles123, LoveTheAvengers, HintofGrey, stardust light, and the guests for reviewing. You guys have seriously made me day in some really bad days. :)

This was supposed to be up late Monday/early Tuesday, but I got inspired and now this chapter is over double its original length. :D

Also, I'm sorry if I don't respond to questions quickly, I'm trying to get updates up while writing papers.

I love you guys, though! Seriously!

I have updates almost done for everything else as well, so I'm slowly coming back. :)

* * *

Steven Rogers had never been the type to leave someone to suffer alone, no matter who they were or what they had done. Kindness was in his nature, that was certain, but that the notion seemed to be constantly smothered by the sleek, streamlined future he was stuck in.

Toni Stark was no exception to that very same kindness, either. The guilt over all of the less than savory things he'd said to her earlier was making him completely uncomfortable in his own skin. And now, to top it off, he couldn't shake the conflicting feelings about leaving Ms. Stark behind in the hangar bay. She had made it clear that she wanted him gone, there was no doubt about it. But, he did not like leaving an injured person – let alone an injured, apparently very sick woman – behind to cope on their own.

When Steve snapped back to reality, he quickly noticed that he'd stopped dead in his tracks in one of the many hallways leading away from the hangar that housed Toni's Iron Man suit on his way back to the bridge.

And that's when the soldier's conscience came crashing back into the forefront of his mind.

He'd _left_ another human being behind to _suffer _alone. Had he really fallen that far? He'd known suffering well in his pre-serum youth – poverty and near-fatal illness included – but had always had someone there, be it his mother or Bucky, to help him through it. Compassion could make a world of difference during dark times for anyone. So, to leave Toni alone at this point in time went against everything he'd ever been taught.

It went against his very _moral fiber._

And he couldn't handle it. Steven Grant Rogers could handle many things, get through many harsh and often unfair situations. However, going against his gut over something this grave – maybe even life threatening for Ms. Stark – was not one of them.

He decided then and there that Ms. Stark was just going to have to add one more item to her growing list of things to be angry at him over.

He promptly turned on his heel to head back to the hangar, politeness be damned.

Toni Stark was about to get a helping hand, whether she wanted it or not.

* * *

The path back to the hangar bay seemed to take forever due to Steve's own nerves and the dread of yet _another _potential argument with Ms. Stark.

However, all of those thoughts were forgotten once he rounded the corner, past the last few steel containers.

At that very moment, time seemed to freeze.

Steve's breath caught in his throat and his stomach churned when he laid eyes on Ms. Stark, collapsed on the floor and unmoving. He barely had time to fully register the situation before dashing over to her crumpled form.

He dropped to his knees beside her and quickly began to check her wrist for a pulse and any sign of breathing. His medical knowledge was limited to that of a 1940's army field medic's, but he could at least make sure she was still alive and get her help.

"Ms. Stark, are you alright? Please, say something!" He gently touched her face, hoping to get a response, and was was promptly shocked at the clammy coldness of her skin.

When he got no reaction after another attempt at waking her, he eased the petite woman off of the floor so that her upper body was leaning against his chest, hoping to give a little warmth to her cold skin. The soldier's body temperature was above the average human's due to his tenfold metabolism, and he did his best to hold her as close as possible. Steve also began to run his hands up and down her arms to create heat, hoping that might make her stir.

"Ms. Stark..._Toni_...please. Please look at me." He tilted her chin upwards, trying to keep the frantic tones that wanted to seep into his voice in check. "You have to wake up now. We need you here."

Toni's eyes slowly opened, only for Steve to see them roll back into her skull. The Iron Man pilot let out a noise that sounded something in between a whimper and a moan of pain and her head lolled to the side, against Steve's chest.

_That _was enough to send super soldier into a complete panic.

Without another word, he scooped the brunette up in his arms with ease, and made a bee line for the medical bay, or what was left of it.

He was determined to do_ something _right by Ms. Stark on this day.

* * *

Steve paced the medical room Toni was currently resting in nervously, highly worried about the still out cold brunette.

He'd removed the top half of his own suit down to the under armor, finding it much too uncomfortable in the tight space and due to to his nervous sweat.

As the captain kept glancing over at Toni, he couldn't stop noticing just how vulnerable she looked. He ended up pulling a chair next to the side of the table, on her injured side. Timidly, he took her hand into his, intent on at least letting her know she wasn't alone.

He remained that way, silently watching over her.

* * *

The only thing that finally interrupted the prolonged silence in the room was the clicking shut of a door Steve didn't know had been opened. He turned around to see the medic that had initially treated Ms. Stark making his way back into the room.

Before the medic even had a chance to speak, Steve cut to the chase. "Is she going to be okay?"

The medic sighed, placing Toni's rather thick medical file on the tray table. "Do you want the easy answer or the best one?"

The frown that had already been crossing Steve's features deepened. "I know you're implying there's more to her health than I actually know, so both."

The medic gave a terse smile at the soldier's concern and continued. "The good news is that Ms. Stark should be fine when she wakes up. She was exhausted, fairly dehydrated, and the level of depressants in her system is dangerously high for someone her size."

Steve let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, lightly squeezing Toni's hand. "That's good to hear."

The medic shifted and nervously and adjusted his glasses. "However, she can't keep going like this...living so self-destructively. Not for very long, anyway. Her lifestyle habits are terrible in all aspects, and if she keeps going, I highly doubt she'll live to see forty at this rate. Her body, and more importantly her heart, can't take it."

That piqued Steve's interest. "Her heart...does it have something to do with that thing in her chest?"

"Indeed it does. That arc reactor keeps the non-removable shrapnel in her body away from her heart. From what I understand, though, it does put a strain on the body. So, if Ms. Stark is not taking care of herself, the reactor can't function to full capacity...and can't fully keep the shrapnel away from her heart."

Steve looked at Toni worriedly. "_Shrapnel_? Is there anything else that can be done? How'd she get the reactor in the first place?"

The medic shook his head. "I don't think that's for me to tell." He nodded towards Toni's medical file.

Steve took the hint, and as the doctor left, reached for the file folder. Yes, it was nosy, but he didn't want Toni Stark to _die._

No one deserved to be treated with that much disregard.

Not even Toni.

And after all of this mess was over, he was going to do his best to make sure she wasn't.

* * *

Some time later, Toni's eyes partially opened, tearing up at the blinding artificial light.

She quickly squeezed them shut to ease the burn, and soon became aware of just how awful she felt. Her entire body felt sluggish and weighted down, not limber and spry like normal.

Oh, how amazing a few cocktails would be right about now.

Toni began to slowly move her fingers and toes. She began to run through a series of little checks to make sure she was in one piece, just like when she was a kid.

Just like she did after she encountered Howard, when he was in a particularly awful mood after hearing the failed results of yet another search for Captain America.

All seemed to be in tact, even her injured arm, until she actually tried to form a fist. When her fingers wouldn't fully curl, the genius' eyes fully opened, silently pleading to whoever might listen that her hand hadn't been partially paralyzed or worse. She rapidly blinked to clear her still blurred vision and see what was going on with her hand.

"Ms. Stark?"

Toni in the direction of the voice, and coincidentally, down at her unmoving hand.

And if she hadn't been laying down already, this would have definitely laid her out.

There sat Spangles, in all his perfect, American glory, by her side..._holding her hand _and using his thumb to gently stroke her knuckles.

He spoke again. "Are you alright?"

Toni slowly nodded. "Yeah...just lovely. What am I doing here? And why are _you _here?"

Steve tensed a little at her more-than-frosty tone towards him. "You passed out in the hangar, Ms. Stark. I brought you here to get help." He still didn't let go of her tiny hand, instead giving it reassuring squeeze.

And Toni couldn't deny how comforting his touch felt. And she also couldn't deny how curious she was for those calloused hands to explore_ other _places on her body.

It didn't help that the blue under armor he was wearing looked practically painted on.

It was drool worthy.

Oh..._oh god_. No wonder why Pepper always called her a pervert.

Toni couldn't imagine how bad she'd be if she were male.

She shook the thought, mildly concerned at how sincerely fucked up her though process was as of late. "...why? The looks you were shooting me kind of said you wanted me to burst into flames, earlier."

Steve's gaze lowered, lashes fluttering closed for a moment, and gave her hand a slightly firmer squeeze. "You didn't deserve to be treated like that."

Instead of responding, Toni just yelped. "Rogers, you're crushing my fucking hand! Lay off!"

The soldier immediately let go. "I...I am so sorry, Ms. Stark." He fumbled with his hands before finally placing them in his lap. "I don't know my own strength, sometimes."

He really couldn't win for losing with this woman.

"Yeah, yeah sure..." She propped herself up on her elbows, flexing her luckily-not-broken hand. "You might wanna work on that, champ. We don't need another dense muscle head running around here." Toni almost snickered at the mention of Thor. Big, dumb, kind-of-goofy Thor.

Steve just cleared his throat and looked away. "You should rest for a little longer. I'll go deal with Director Fury...things aren't looking very good."

Toni frowned. "Not good...how?"

Steve's shoulders slumped a little. "From what I know so far, Dr. Banner is missing, along with Thor and Loki. None of them have been located yet, and Fury wants to speak with us...we're all that's left, Ms. Stark."

Toni flopped backwards on the table, wincing at how hard it was when her already sore body came into contact with it. "Splendid. And the suit's basically fucked so I'm useless unless I can get back to the tower." She made sure to make eye contact with Spangles when saying that.

Steve swallowed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I...I need to get to the bridge."

The brunette sat up properly this time and began pulling the IV out of her good, non-bandaged arm, much to Steve's protest. "I'm going too." She swung her legs over the side of the table and, against her body's wishes, stood. "I'm sure Fury's got an earful just for me."

And that was when Toni realized she might not be as well off as she thought. The entire room seemed to spin from getting up so quickly. Her first foot forward proved to be a misstep, and she found herself falling forward yet again...

...and in Steve came in with the save, with protective arms once again wrapping around her tightly.

He was so warm. And she could feel it, now that his suit was off. It was...wonderful. Toni was even willing to bet that it felt simply marvelous to curl up next to him and...

Okay, she really needed to stop. This was just getting silly. "I ah...my legs are still kind of stiff."

Steve actually gave her a small smile. She really did feel so nice to hold. "If you're so insistent on going, then at least let me help."

He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

* * *

"I could carry you to the bridge, Ms. Stark. You're not heavy at all." Steve glanced down at the brunette who had an arm around his neck with utmost sincerity. He really didn't want the genius to strain herself any more than she had to, and he was trying to make small talk to make their current predicament less awkward.

He only received a glare from Toni up in his general direction in response, though, with a faint flush crossing her cheeks. The soldier figured that the redness on Toni's face was from exhaustion. It was a logical guess, right?

_Oh, how wrong he was. _

"I'm just a little woozy, not crippled, you know." Toni attempted to swat the supportive hand on the side of her waist away in annoyance and sheer need for personal space. Aside from sex, she never particularly liked being touched. The people that tended to touch her otherwise liked to leave bruises; angry reminders of her failures as a human being.

It sufficed to say that the closeness the pair had made her more uncomfortable than she'd like to admit, in more ways than one.

Steve wouldn't budge, however. He just looked down at her, his features softening. "I'm not leaving you behind again, Ms. Stark. Not after earlier."

With a huff of indignation, Toni ignored the comment. The pair were surprisingly silent for a beat, until she felt Steve's hand tighten slightly on her waist, almost protectively.

As much as she disliked it, Toni thought it was a cute move coming from him, but it left the soldier even more wide open for more of her snark. She smirked. Maybe this would allow her to put some space in between them and give her time to swallow some of the more intense feelings of discomfort and shame she was having.

"Oh, I get it!" The brunette spoke as if she had some great realization.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't look away from her. "Get what, Ms. Stark?"

"This. You just want to feel me up. I get it. Gentlemen have to keep up their appearances, after all. You're pretty clever to be _so _old."

Now it was Steve's turn to blush. "That-that's not what I'm trying to do at all! I wouldn't do that! Can't you just accept help when it's offered?!"

Toni just rolled her eyes. There was no point in trying to retort, he was practically babbling at this point. "You're so hopeless."

Steve's expression fell slightly. "Not everyone in the world has ulterior motives like you seem you think." He paused when he saw her eyebrow raise, silently questioning him, and sighed. "You know, Ms. Stark, you're a successful, beautiful da- woman...you really don't need to be so awful to everyone."

Toni felt like the wind hand been knocked out of her lungs. Did he really just say that?

She scrambled to hide the butterflies in her stomach, and more importantly, her embarrassment. "Oh, shut up and keep moving, Rogers."

Steve looked ahead, and just shook his head. Toni Stark was exhausting to deal with, to say the least.

But little did he know, he'd just dealt one of the best compliments _and _heaviest blows possible to an incredibly fragile ego.

* * *

The look Director Fury was giving both the remaining two Avengers was enough to make Toni want to die on the inside just a little.

She focused her attention at her hands in her lap, not wanting to look over to Spa– _Captain America _for fear of more of those earlier feelings coming back, and definitely not ready to hear the venomous lecture the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. was bound to have for them. That look of disgust Fury held was all she needed to see to know she wasn't going to like anything she was about to hear.

Toni just didn't have it within herself for sarcasm or her special brand of 'friendly' antagonism right now. Not after that little episode with Cap in the hallway. Did he really think she was beautiful? Did he mean that? God, it had been so long since she'd heard something so honest when referring to her.

She couldn't let herself think about it right now.

Where was Agent Coulson with some much needed dry humor and banter? He should have been making his timely appearance about now...

"You know..." Fury began, voice calm and deadly. "I had this idea, once. To assemble a team of extraordinary people. A team that would help us...help _the world _when it needed help the most. I thought you could all put aside your differences long enough for the greater good. And you know what?"

Steve looked at Toni, finding the blank look on her face and lack of a rebuttal completely off-putting. She just kept staring down at her hands. Had he not been seated so far away, the soldier would have reached out for her hand again. She needed the support more than him, more than any of them, really.

"I believed in you. _All _of you." He focused his one-eyed stare down on Toni. "And Coulson did, too. He died, believing in the Avengers."

With that, Fury tossed the blood-soaked vintage trading cards up on the table.

One look at those bloodied trading cards was all the stomach-churning confirmation Toni needed. She scrambled up from her chair hastily, bile rising in her throat and tears pricking at her eyes, and stumbled out of the room toward the former holding room for the Hulk's cell.

Toni had heard an agent was down after engaging Loki in the containment chamber area, but she'd never have believed it was Coulson.

But...Agent Coulson was dead. _Phil _was dead. He was gone, and it was all because they couldn't get their act together.

And because she just _had _to feed the fire.

Steve followed not too terribly far behind her, not wanting her to do anything rash.

* * *

By the time Steve reached the holding cell area, the salt had already been well applied into Toni's wounds. The brunette's arms were crossed, her eyes locked on to a single bloody spot on the wall. It seemed as if the billionaire was in a trance of some sort, dark eyes swimming sadness and anger.

_Those dark eyes that had drawn him from the beginning.  
_  
It didn't take much for the super soldier to see that Ms. Stark was a completely broken woman, and that Agent Coulson's death was the final straw. He'd always been good at reading people, and Ms. Stark was no old pro at masking her emotions. Her eyes gave away everything she was hiding – which was apparently a lot from what he'd seen of her file in the medical bay.

He didn't understand the reason for so many of her injuries. The majority of them, to be truthful. But now was not the time to try and figure out the many intricacies that made up Toni Stark. An already bad situation had gotten worse, and something needed to be done to subdue Loki. Quickly.

Steve seemed to finally find the words to speak. "Did he have any family?"

Toni almost mumbled in reply, to keep her voice from cracking. "There was a cellist. In Portland."

The blonde looked over to the blood stain that Toni's eyes were so fixated on. "He...he was a good soldier." He walked closer to he brunette to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

It only took a split second for him to realize he'd struck the wrong chord with Toni, as she immediately stiffened on contact and leaned toward the railing, using her good arm's hand to white knuckle it.

"You really need to get it through that thick skull of yours, Rogers. We are _not_ soldiers. I'm _not_ some mindless drone like you, and I am _not _marching to Fury's fife!"

Steve frowned. Did she hate the military that much? Is that why she constantly targeted him? He knew Howard had something to do with it, that was certain at this point. He knew she had been a weapons dealer as well, so had the military turned on her when she stopped? The information he had initially been given on Toni Stark was vague at best.

Regardless of the reason, though, it kind of stung. His military career was the one thing in his life he could be proud of. He was proud of being a soldier, yet she seemed disgusted by the very idea of it.

The young captain kept silent, not questioning the Iron Man pilot.

Toni finally regained some of her composure, and raised her head. "Loki...he wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttgart."

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this will be opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..." She paused suddenly, eyes widening. "Son of a bitch!"

It was Steve's turn to raise a brow. "Something register?"

Toni began to limp towards the door, glaring when the young captain stepped forward to help her. "Yeah. I need to go make sure my 'big, ugly tower' is in still on one piece."

Steve grimaced slightly at the reference to his earlier words.

It seemed Toni Stark could hold one hell of a grudge, no matter how he tried remedy it.

* * *

Yeeaaaah. Toni's kinda losing it, if you haven't noticed.

Stay tuned for the big battle!

I hope you all like it, and I'd love to hear from you!

xBreeze


	7. Of Monsters and Men

Cheerfully Cynical, Archer83, b00kw0rms, BetahimeTsukiko, Decepticon-silverstreak, CherryYume, BobThePegasus, EveningStars1107, AvengerGirl95, jenny, ElektraMackenzie, hope, Athina Dark-Angel of Death, Meep99, memoriesofrain, kyothefallenkit, Purple 'N' Blue Wings, NephelePaintsTheRain, Anon, Smiles123, Summerice7, AnisRocks, MoonlightDemoness, blown-transistor, NoNameX, BurnedSpy, Ravenclaw Slytherin, NotQuiteSaneInTheMembrane, Dragones, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, Hint Of Grey, Kae Gates, and the guest for reviewing! Hearing from you really brightens my day. If I missed anyone, let me know, and I'll add you. :)

Summerice7: Thank you! And this chapter, plus about one or two more, will end the Avengers timeline. Around chapter 10, we'll be moving into AU territory.

NoNameX: You're so sweet! :D And I promise it'll be good. I have something special put together for the nuke scene. :3

I'm sorry I take so long to update…but as I've said, school gets in the way. On top of that, I'm just….not happy with my writing style. I get disappointed with it and it leaves me full of ideas, but lacking the motivation or the confidence to get them down. I'm working on it, but still.

**P.S. I never said Coulson was dead, officially. This is (mostly) being written in an over the shoulder, 3rd person perspective of Toni….I've never confirmed it. Just saying. ;)**

**P.P.S. I'm extremely tired, so this hasn't been edited to my fullest ability. I'll be looking over it again tomorrow for spelling/grammar/etc problems.** **I know I don't usually do this but I felt like you guys deserved something posted.**

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Ms. Stark?"

Toni grunted and stopped her repairs on the Mark VI's helmet, pulling up her face shield.

...Well, what _could_ be repaired, anyway. Not that she'd _ever_ admit that.

"For the tenth time Rogers, I'm sure. I'll be damned if that _fucking freak_ uses my tower as a throne while he runs amok."

Typically, Steve would have at least frowned at the constant stream of insults and cursing coming from her, as he'd never been a fan of extremely foul language. But...it seemed so natural coming from Toni Stark. He doubted she'd have the same..._presence_...if she was more polite, demure.

And _dear God,_ did Toni Stark have a presence.

Instead, he just sighed, shaking his head at the brunette and leaning against the wall. The soldier took interest in his boots while he mulled everything over (and simultaneously ignored Toni's glare for interrupting her work).

Steve hated Toni's plans. There was no denying it. He was absolutely against her confronting Loki alone, especially with the shape both she and her suit were in. The very idea of it had him on edge.

The captain wasn't sure where any of this was coming from, either. He was really just going off of his gut instinct and he couldn't shake it.

"I just don't like you going to face Loki on your own." He was putting it lightly.

Toni rolled her eyes and put the spot welder down with an exaggerated thunk. Raising her protective shield once again, she turned her sour expression to the young soldier.

"Really, Rogers? I pass out _one_ time and you break out the 'white knight and savior' act? I really thought you were above that." Ribbing him was the only thing that helped her nerves settle over her plan.

Not that she wasn't totally confident about it...

...Okay, _mostly_ confident about it.

Steve closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he made to leave. He would not snap back at her comment now. If something were to happen to her, the blonde didn't want their last conversation to be in the form of an argument.

Instead, his over-the-shoulder reply threw the genius off, with no ability to think of rebuttal.

The heart-flutter-inducing half smile didn't help, either.

"I just don't want to see you die today, Ms. Stark. I think I'd miss these arguments we always seem to be getting into." And with that, the captain left Toni to her work.

The billionaire was glad he didn't turn around. She felt frozen in her slack jawed, embarrassed state, and had no desire to give the captain another victory in this - whatever it was - they had going on.

Well, _whatever it was_, the score was currently Steve - 2, Toni - 0.

* * *

Toni found herself relieved when Stark Tower came into view.

This was not just because of the tower itself being in one piece, either. The thrusters on the Mark VI were on their very last breath, and the Iron Man pilot really didn't want to kiss the concrete today.

Toni was also ahead of the S.H.I.E.L.D plane, so Steve was nowhere nearby. She knew she'd never hear the end of it if Spangles saw her suit failing.

Luckily, Toni had a plan in mind. Unbeknownst to anyone, save for Pepper, the genius had not only been celebrating the tower becoming fully operational on clean energy before this mess began. She'd just finished the prototype of the Mark VII armor that same day. It hadn't had a proper test run yet, but that was a risk Toni was willing to take.

It was a risk she _had_ to take.

Now, all that was left was to get to the armor and trick the God of Mischief, who just happened to be staring right at her as she prepared to land, smirking.

Toni would be lying if she said her heart wasn't attempting to beat out of her chest. The arc reactor was glowing brighter than it possibly ever had.

Hitting the landing platform, Toni steeled her resolve as as the rotating rings removed the battered Mark VI. She spared one mock-bored glance at the god and continued into the tower.

Her game face was firmly locked into place.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Man of Iron." His condescending tone was more than a little nauseating to Toni. "Though I must say, I was not expecting a woman under all that armor."

Toni simply shrugged, making her way over to the bar. "What can I say? I had to break up the boys club. Big Red can't do it by all herself, y'know."

The god actually chuckled, albeit darkly. "I suppose so. But why are you here without my brother? That monster? That captain you seem to be so fond of?"

...Was it really _that_ obvious?

"I hope that's sarcasm. I'd expect nothing less from the God of Mischief and Lies." Toni hoped the remark would appeal to his ego and give her enough time to find what she was looking for.

It worked.

Now, where were the homing bracelets for the Mark VII?

"Ahh..so you've heard of me?" The faintest traces of amusement laced Loki's smooth voice.

"Yeah...you could say that. I studied all that boring Norse mythology stuff to pass the time in college, y'know, since I was too young to party." Toni rolled her eyes and feigned annoyance, partly from the memories and partly from the stony look she was getting from the trickster god.

"I would stay my tongue if I were you, woman. Now why are you here? Come to appeal to my humanity?" Toni resisted the urge to cringe at being referred to as 'woman' as well as the syrupy, condescending tone of his voice.

"Uh, actually I'm planning to threaten you. Sorry to disappoint." The genius felt herself gaining confidence in this war of words, despite the pain of her injuries seeping back in as the adrenaline wore off.

Loki quirked a slim, incredulous eyebrow. "Oh, really? You should have left your armor on for that."

Toni sighed, rubbing her throbbing, injured arm. "Yeah, no. It's seen a bit of 'mileage' and you got the 'glow-stick of destiny'."

She scanned the room again, eyes locking on to the recess behind the bar. _There _were those elusive bracelets.

Of course.

"Would you like a drink?" The brunette wasted no time and made a bee line for the bar.

Another annoyed stare from the god. "Stalling me won't change anything."

Toni continued the banter long enough to give her time to slip pair of bracelets on. "No, no no, _threatening_! No drink? You sure? I'm having one." She wasn't bluffing with that, either. She needed a drink at this point to calm her nerves and dull the intense stinging sensation in her arm.

Damn Spangles for being right about taking it easy with her bad arm. _Damn him_.

Instead of giving any notion that she was in pain, however, Toni just sipped her brandy gingerly, waiting for a response.

Loki was quite obviously not amused by Toni's flippant attitude. "What have I to fear, then?"

Toni stared at him as if the answer was the most obvious one in the world, and took a long, thoughtful sip of her drink. "The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. An 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type thing."

Loki smirked again. "Yes, I've met them. "

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one." She sent him a smirk of her own this time. "But, let's do a head count here: your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was part of the plan.." Loki acted as if he had them all figured out, as if they were all simpletons, and Toni hated it.

The God of Mischief and Lies reminded Toni a lot of herself, after all.

The Iron Man pilot was quick to burst his bubble. "Not a great plan. When they come, and they _WILL_, they'll come for you."

The god was getting a little defensive. "I have an army."

Toni's reply was instant, once again. "We have a Hulk."

That statement made Loki's expression visibly falter, even though it was slight. "I thought the beast had wandered off..." He quickly straightened his posture and concealed any discomfort, though. "No matter. I will make your little team bow down before me."

The newly-found camaraderie between these pathetic souls made him sick, reminding him much of his all-too-dear brother, Sif, and The Warriors Three. He tightened his fist. "This miserable little planet will be mine, and I will sit on its throne!"

The whole twisted little idea in his head of conquering earth was completely ridiculous, and Loki's arrogance was making Toni's blood boil. In some little corner of her mind, she felt guilty for treating nearly everyone she'd ever encountered that way.

For the first time in a long time, Toni felt genuine determination. She would protect the Earth from this fool. _The Avengers _would protect it. "You're missing the point! There's _no_ throne, there is _no _part of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it!"

Loki wasn't impressed by the speech. "Hmph. How will your friends have time for me...when they're so busy fighting you?"

That managed to catch Toni off guard, and she took a step back. "_Excuse me_?"

The god approached Toni, almost a little too eagerly for her liking. "You see, Toni Stark, dividing you all was only part of the plan." Loki closed the quickly closed the space in between them, raising a cold had to cup her cheek. "The other part of my plan is to employ _your_ services to deal with my brother and those other buffoons."

It was true. He found the dark-haired woman far superior to the rest of miserable, weak creatures he'd encountered. The god had taken a sort of fascination with Toni; with her brilliance and cunning that rivaled his own. He was none too fond of that captain's attraction to her, either. He'd been toying with the idea of using her as a pawn not only as a coup de grâce to this "team" his brother was on, since unleashing the monster had failed...

_...but perhaps as a mate as well._

Toni looked at Loki as if she'd read his mind, mouth slightly open. "Oh, gross!" She cringed away from his touch and spoke with derision. "You _can't_ be serious. That's like...the oldest, worst B movie plot ever."

Loki shook off the comment and sneered at her. "You have no other choice."

With that, the god raised his glowing scepter up to Toni's arc reactor, too fast for her to even react. The scepter began to glow even more brightly, but it quickly faded, even emitting a sort of _whir_ in defeat.

He tried again, but it was in vain.

For the first time, the god seem genuinely surprised. "This...this usually works..."

Toni just shrugged. "Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five..."

Loki didn't give the woman the time to finish her thought before he had Toni gripped tightly by the neck, pushing her back against the bar roughly, causing the brunette to grunt in pain. Her drink glass cracked upon hitting the floor. The god leaned in closely, until he and the Iron Man pilot were nose-to-nose. Toni's eyes inadvertently widened in fear as Loki's hand tightened around her neck, instantly sinking her nails into his fingers in a futile attempt to free herself.

"That tongue of yours is going to cause you a world of trouble, wench." The god's wild eyes were practically boring holes into Toni's skull.

Even though she was straining to talk with the trickster's hand firmly squeezing her neck, Toni refused to be silenced. "Joke's on you, it already has."

The remark only earned her a staff-wielding hand smacking her across her face. The blood began to trickle from the corner of her mouth almost instantly. "One last chance: join me, or watch your allies die...just like that pathetic little agent."

Even Loki was taken aback by the fury that flared up in her eyes at that jab. "You're a fucking heartless monster." She grunted as the hand tightened around her throat more, struggling. "And that's why Thor will always be better than you."

At that insult, _that particular insult_, Loki snapped. Pulling the dark-haired woman so close, their foreheads touched, with the god flashing a crazed smiled. "A _monster_? Oh, I will show you a monster even your worst dreams know not the likes of." He was practically hissig at her.

Without another word, the raven-haired god struck Toni's head back against the bar with a deafening crack. "I hope that _soldier_ of yours doesn't mind carrying your death on his conscience, your blood on his hands." Toni's eyes widened, the shock of the unexpected statement barely giving her time to try and brace herself before Loki turned quickly, flinging her across the room like a ragdoll. She landed on the floor, skidding across it, and collided with the adjacent wall.

With the world threatening to spin out of control again, Toni struggled to push herself up, grunting at the pain shooting through her skull. The neck of the back of her shirt began to feel warm and wet, and she feared the worst. Toni went to raise a protective hand to her head and check the damage, leaning on her side.

However, her blood ran cold when she heard cruel laughter and slow, methodical footsteps heading toward her.

"Steve won't...he...won't care. He'll stop you, even if I die. They..._all_...will." The room was a blur of ambers and golds, and the copper smell of blood and salty sweat mixing was threatening to make her sick. Still, she was determined to stand, to not show this _monster_ any sign of weakness. "This world...and everyone in it...is bigger than just me."

Loki stopped in front of Toni, baring straight white teeth in a sickening twist of a smile. "So selfless." He raised the scepter with one fluid movement. "How..._cute_."

The scepter came crashing down into Toni's hip before she could even register what was happened. The pain was on a level she'd never experienced before, not even in Afghanistan. It felt as if her hip had been ground into powder, and her body was on fire with millions of hot needles pricking her all over. The sensation caused her eyes to tear. The amber and gold blurs were replaced by stars. She let out something between a strangled cry and a wail, falling over and panting heavily. She tried to draw herself into a fetal position to protect herself from another blow, like she had with her father, but her fresh injury prohibited that.

Where was Captain America when she needed him? No, where was _Steve_ when she needed him? She wanted Steve.

The pain was overriding her ability to form words or logical thoughts.

All the while, Loki towered above her broken form, finding her suffering thoroughly entertaining. But the god had no time to for this dance with her anymore. He had a war to win.

"It's such a shame you have to die." He said as he gripped a fistful of her bloodied, dirty shirt in the front. Loki lifted Toni to her feet, causing her to howl in pain and her body to sway. "You could have been so much more than a mere pariah with me."

The next think Toni knew, she heard glass shatter and felt a strong breeze against her back.

Her body felt weightless as she fell. Time was frozen, yet everything was flashing before her eyes. She was terrified of the Mark VII not deploying and that she'd meet her end on the streets of Manhattan.

_So much for not kissing the concrete today._

"JARVIS..._please_...any time now."

When nothing happened, panic took over her.

"JARVIS, PLEASE."

Still nothing. Toni closed her eyes, hoping her death would be quick and painless.

That's when it happened. Before she could open her eyes, she felt her body being encased by a comforting, familiar shell. JARVIS had come through. The suit snapped snugly into place, with small needles inserting themselves into her wrists from the homing bracelets to administer painkillers when she needed them.

Toni fired the boosters up just in the nick of time, barely dodging smashing into unaware pedestrians.

She couldn't have been more thankful for her ingenuity than she was in that moment. The painkillers dulled the nearly unbearable pain from her hip (the the original intention was to counteract some of the more severe hits she took while in the Iron Man suits), while the suit itself held her hip into place.

Flying back up to the window she'd just been tossed through, she locked her eyes onto the angered "god" in front of her.

"There's one more guy you pissed off... His name's Phil."

_This would be the fight of her life._

* * *

Iwillnotwritegenderswapped!frostironIswear. At least not now. Hahaha.

And sorry if you aren't particularly fond of dark!Loki. I love the character, and I tried to stay as close to the source material as possible, but I think given the way I have things written out a darker side of Loki fit better.

Aaanyways, stay tuned for the big battle. After that, things will start to really deviate from the canon story. :)

Check out my other work if you're bored! I'm working on updates for those, too!

'Till next time!  
xBreeze


	8. Of Laying Down on the Wire

I'm back, once again.

I'd just like to thank all of you guys for following this story. Every single one of you. The reviewers, the followers, the favoriters, and even the lurkers that just enjoy reading in their spare time. You guys are seriously wonderful, and I love you all for it. :)

Special thanks to Ravenclaw Slytherin, BetahimeTsukiko, spit-fire extraordinaire, youreshowingoffagain, blown-transistor, Sere16, BurnedSpy, CherryYume, Dragones, Binary 9, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, Fellowship of Avengers, memoriesofrain, Archer83, b00kw0rms, Kingdom Hearts Slayer, Athina Dark-Angel of Death, nonapal13, Decepticon-silverstreak, Smiles123, Kazane Sayuri, LiveLoveMusic20, Kayleighh, RileyAnora, dreamer, MelodyPotterSnape, Rayner Fox, amy, NoNameX, Extraordinary Invisible Lights, Evil-Angel1313, lovelydreamer, hanah potter 05, NephelePaintsTheRain, and the guests for reviewing!

Super special shoutouts go to Fellowship of the Avengers for back reviewing every chapter in this story. That seriously made my week. :3

**_Side note: I'm actually thinking of starting to keep an active tumblr or something so it doesn't seem like I've dropped off the planet in between updates. I'm an avid gamer/anime person and I get distracted in between work and school and updating. Thoughts?_**

* * *

_Chaos._

Manhattan had descended into utter chaos.

Creatures were pouring out of the wormhole in the sky and destruction was quickly spreading throughout the city. Roads were covered in smoke, blocking out the owners of the terrified screams.

And Toni Stark readily flew into the mouth of the chaos, surrounding herself in the madness.

This was_ her_ city, _her_ home, and she wasn't about to lose it to some jilted god with daddy issues, even if it killed her.

She had daddy issues (though she wouldn't dare admit that to anyone willingly), and she turned out okay.

_Right?_

The genius began shooting down the - whatever they were - taking down as many as possibly as fast as she could. The death rattle those _things_ made as they went down made Toni's skin crawl.

However, much to the Iron Man pilot's dismay, for every two she took down four more seemed to take their place.

Where was back up when she needed it? Bruce, Fabio, Spangles..._anyone_? This was not going to be a fair one woman fight. She brought up her communicator on the HUD, hoping to hear something on the other end.

"Is anyone else seeing this?!" The dark haired woman was still having trouble believing what she was seeing was indeed real.

After a few seconds of radio silence, Toni was relieved to get a reply. "Ms. Stark! Are you alright? What's _happening_?!" Of course, it was Spangles.

Did he not see the giant hole in the sky? _Seriously_? He really was Captain Obvious. "Loki's released his army on the the city." Toni paused, grunting as a beam of energy hit her injured leg. "Where are you people?! Getting drive thru?"

This time Natasha started barking over the link. "This isn't the time for your jokes, Stark." Toni sighed. "We need to figure out a pl-"

An explosion sounded across the link and the conversation turned into white noise.

Toni sighed heavily, finally locking on to the aircraft. "Well, _that figures_." The small carrier had been critically damaged, and was going in for a crash landing.

With a wince, she kicked her thrusters into gear and blasted off towards her so-called 'teammates'.

It only took a few quick seconds to land near the wreckage of the carrier. The Iron Man pilot skillfully blasted away at the creatures attempting to crowd the ship, giving the trio of heroes time to get out.

"Nice to see you all finally decide to make an appearance." Toni forced the sarcasm through the still agonizing pain shooting out from her hip.

"Can it, Stark." The Widow fired off a few rounds from her pistol, disabling one of the approaching aliens. "We need to hold off these things and get everyone _out_ of here."

However, before anything else could be said, a ground-shaking roar sounded in the distance.

"Yeah, you work on that." Toni looked up towards the portal, her jaw literally dropping open inside the armor. "I...have bigger fish to fry."

Steve landed a solid connecting elbow to the face of one of the invaders, not liking what he was hearing.

Or thinking, for that matter. She really wasn't going to face off with that thing, was she?

"You can't mean..."

But before the super soldier could finish the thought, the genius had already taken a step back and was flying off, back to the heart of the war zone.

Steve detached his shield from his back, preparing for a full out battle down to the last man.

_Toni wasn't going to be alone in this fight. Not this time._

* * *

As the battle raged on, and Steve felt as if he were on his hundredth take down (and to be fair, he probably was), the super soldier found himself becoming more and more concerned over Toni.

The petite woman wasn't her usual, wise cracking self even in the face of danger. On top of that, the stunts she kept pulling seemed to be getting more reckless by the minute. Toni acted as if she had a death wish, and the more he saw of her, the more the soldier felt he was right.

It took all of Steve's power not to freeze into place when he watched Toni fly right right into the giant, razor-toothed maw of one of those beasts. The act threw him off completely, and he narrowly avoided a deathblow to the chest by one of the chitauri.

Thor _had_ called them chitauri, he was pretty sure.

Slamming is hand onto the communicator to contact Toni in one panicked motion, Steve couldn't hide the panic in his voice as he spoke. "Toni, what are you doing?! _Have you lost your mind!_"

No response, but the hulking flying beast was descending quickly.

"Toni, answer me! I'm begging you!" His tired body kept delivering blows to his enemies as he spoke.

He got a response, hard to understand through Toni's ragged breath. "Relax, Rogers, I'm fine." He saw the suit of armor come ripping through the side of the beast.

"Slimy, but fine." She took to the air again, but Steve picked up on the strain in her voice.

"Are you injured? You don't sound fine." Another would-be fatal hit dodged.

"It's nothing. Loki one upped me in the tower without my armor. It didn't go smoothly...like it does in the movies. I'll live." Toni was doing her best at playing her injury down. No one needed to know.

_No one._

"What do you mean h-"

Toni cut him off while trying to stifle a grunt of pain. "Just stop the white-knight concern and focus on the issue here, Rogers. I don't want it. Help the others!"

A sad sigh came from Steve's end of the line. "Just don't die on me." The blonde said it, even though he had a feeling his words were going to fall on deaf ears.

That actually made Toni smirk as she began to take the flying chariots down.

"Don't worry, Spangles. I don't thing things could get any worse then they are now."

* * *

Things could and would get much, _much_ worse.

As the Iron Man suit sped towards the wormhole gripping the nuke, Toni did the only thing she could think of. The battered woman turned on the autopilot and shut down all incoming communications. She really didn't need to be talked out of anything right now.

This was most certainly a suicide mission, but it was one she had to take.

Too many people down there could die, and she wouldn't be able to straddle that guilt. She would more than likely survive the blast from the nuke in her suit...but...the others. The innocent. _Everyone._

Toni really couldn't imagine a world without them. Any of them. Bruce, Thor, Natasha, Clint...Steve.

She couldn't imagine letting her childhood hero _just perish_ like that. How would society even handle something like that? _'Captain America killed by Iron Man'_?

No way.

Not to mention she'd be letting Manhattan get turned into a smoking crater.

The CEO did have one call to make though.

_Pepper needed to know more than anyone. _

_She deserved an apology more than anyone._

They'd been together through thick and thin, and the redhead had dragged her out of many a bad situation.

Not to mention, Pepper had put up with her bullshit when Toni was at her absolute worst, with a smile on her face and kindness in her heart.

_She needed to know._

"JARVIS?"

"_Yes, Miss Stark?_"

"Call Pepper, please."

"_Yes ma'am_."

It would be just Toni's luck to for Pepper not to even pick up.

The CEO felt the bile rise in her throat as Pepper's phone rang, seemingly endlessly. This was bad. She was aching despite the pain medication coursing through her veins, and the engineer was sure she was going to black out in the not-too-distant future.

Finally, despite all odds, the line connected. Toni's entire body relaxed a little.

"Toni?! _What the hell_ _are you doing_?! Have you lost your mind?!" Ah, that was Pepper. If she weren't freaking out in a life or death situation, she wouldn't be, well...Pepper.

"It's okay, Pep. Everything's going to be fine." Toni spoke with an even tone. She was just going to more than likely die making things 'fine', but she decided to leave that out.

"You're fighting_ aliens_ and holding a _nuke_! Everything is _not_ fine!" The copper haired assistant was very close to hysterics.

"Shhh. Pep. I need you to listen to me carefully, okay? If something happens..." _When the inevitable happens_. "I need you to be strong do some things for me. Not for the company, but for _me_."

And there came the sobbing. "But Toni...!"

Toni fought to keep her eyes from watering. "No buts, Pepper Potts! You have to be strong for me. I don't have a will written! You know how morbid I always thought that was.."

After a too-long pause, a sad, small chuckle and a sniffle came from the other side of the line. "Okay, Toni. I'll try. For you." Toni could just see that sad smile that Pepper seemed to always use when Toni was the topic of discussion. "What do you need me to do?"

Toni paused for a second, wanting to word this as nicely as possible. "If..if I don't make it out of this mess.." She swallowed upon hearing Pepper's breath hitch, mouth extremely dry and pain making her head buzz. "Please show Ste- Captain America the Room. Tell him everything, even about Howard. Please."

"Oh, Toni..." The voice was soft, somber, full of hurt. Pepper was the only one that knew everything about Toni, and if she was going to die, Steve should know the truth too.

_He should know why Toni was so damaged beyond repair._

_He should know why she was so bitter._

"Just do it, please. Answer any question he has and make sure he's okay. He's lost, too." The genius paused. "And Dr. Banner. Offer him a cushy job, give him R&D...anything to make him comfortable. He's a really good guy Pep. He deserves something good done for him, for once."

"I understand. I can do that for you Toni, I promise. But you're going to ma-"

The line started fading more, and Toni took a deep breath. She wasn't ready for this to be it just yet.

Exhaling, she continued, cutting Pepper off. "I have to go, Pep. I'm sorry things turned out like this. Have a good life with Happy and name one of the kids after me."

"Toni!" And there went the sobbing, again.

"It's not _that_ bad of a suggestion!" The Iron Man pilot tried to relax Pepper a little, even if the redhead knew what was going to happen as much as she did. Pepper was good at reading Toni, even when they weren't near each other.

"It's not funny! Please don't die today, Toni. You can't! You just..._can't_."

With no means to wipe her eyes, Toni's tears started rolling down her cheeks freely. "I love you, Pep. You really were the older sister I always wanted."

The personal assistant took a breath to reply, but the communication line finally went dead. As Toni approached the last few hundred feet near wormhole, she finally spoke to her AI once more.

"JARVIS."

"_Yes, Miss Stark?_"

"It's been a pleasure knowing you."

"_I concur wholeheartedly, Miss Stark._"

"Are you ready?" Toni took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.

"_As much as you are, ma'am._"

Exhaling, she spoke once more. "Then let's do this."

Toni closed her eyes as she crossed into the portal, not really wanting to know what was going to happen or what fate awaited her.

* * *

Steven Rogers had always felt confident with his decisions, and had always stuck by the belief that he always had tried to do the right thing.

But now, as he watched the wormhole with pleading eyes, begging Toni to come flying out of it at any second...he wasn't so sure he was doing the right thing.

It was up to him to make the call; to close the wormhole down.

He'd only known the youngest Stark for less than seventy-two hours, and despite their polarizing differences, he found himself wanting to get to know more about her. She was inevitably linked to his past, so maybe, just maybe, they could forge some sort of friendship.

He also knew there was a good heart in there somewhere, and he wanted to see it. He wanted the chance to get to know Toni Stark at her core, not the bold, borderline obnoxious mask she put on.

Now, it seemed like that might not ever be an option.

He couldn't even apologize to Toni right now. She has cut her communications line, probably as soon as she'd hatched this plan.

The super soldier hated it. This wasn't a fair fate for Toni.

He couldn't imagine a world without the genius, even though_ he'd_ only been back in it or a few months.

The seconds felt like hours waiting for the iron wonder to fly out, bragging about how she'd saved the day, so the young Captain could call for the portal to be closed and end this madness.

Steve found himself thinking just how nice it would be to hear said bragging right about now.

But, nothing was happening. Time ticked down forever more, until the portal had to be closed to prevent the radiation from spreading all over Manhattan.

The Black Widow's voice crackled over the radio, filling Steve with dread. "Make the call Captain. You have to before it's too late."

The blonde felt his blood run cold.

Steve had wanted her to prove that he was wrong about not laying down on the wire for people but...not like this. Never like this.

With a heavy heart and tears clouding his eyes, Steven Rogers made one of the hardest calls of his life. "Close it."

After a little hesitation, the Widow complied, and the Captain saw the wormhole begin to gradually get smaller and smaller after a large flash of light.

If Toni was still alive up there, then he'd just sentenced the last member of the Stark family to death.

...And Steve really didn't know how he was going to live with that.

* * *

So this...this was dying?

The dark haired woman had opened her eyes in the darkness, always wondering what dying would look and feel like. She'd contemplated taking her own life after Afghanistan, but had been afraid of suffering long term - both physically and post-mortem.

She wasn't religious by any means, but she didn't ever have the guts to risk it.

It would be just her luck to be proven wrong about her ideas of about faith and end up in some sort of permanent hell.

_Probably right next to Howard._

This, though...this wasn't so bad. The darkness and lack of even JARVIS scared her, yes. But...just watching the twinkling of the stars all around her while body felt like it was slowly going to sleep? This was actually peaceful.

Really, she just wanted to stay awake a little longer, to see the stars sparkle so brilliantly.

The eccentric genius had always loved the stars, even as a child. She had always kept a telescope in her den for that very reason. It had been the very first 'gift' to herself after she took over as the Stark Industries CEO. Her home had even been built with a balcony area that functioned primarily as her own personal observation deck.

There was just something about the starry night sky...something calming. It was as if Toni felt everything would be alright when she looked up at the stars.

The dark haired woman sighed contentedly, letting the last breath her broken body was holding out slowly.

Toni closed her eyes for the last time, a small smile gracing her lips.

She was going to drift off into space for the rest of eternity. It wasn't such as bad fate to her, honestly.

She just hoped that Steve - and everyone - would be proud of her. She'd laid down on the wire, for once.

Her mind slipped into the darkness slowly after that.

_Toni Stark was perfectly content to die among the stars that she had admired for so very long._

* * *

**Side note: This was where I originally had planned to end this fic.**

_**S**__**eriously. No shit. This beast all started with that one final sentence.**_

On a better note, I really do enjoy writing this and plan to go post-movie, starting the next-ish chapter.

Also, I really didn't think it was necessary to rewrite the entire final fight in painful detail. I wasn't planning to change much, so, uh...yeah.

I'm updating my other work as well, so check that out too!


	9. Of Tears and Heroes

**I'm baaaaaaaack. And I hope I didn't kill to many readers with that last update.**

**Special thanks to Chocopipe, grayember13, CaseClosed621, Fellowship of Avengers, Ravenclaw Slytherin, Ghibly101, BurnedSpy, b00kw0rms, WelshGirl4Life, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, PiercedAmethyst, Lioness32, dasserk, Rayner Fox, FartingRainbows, Frostivy, NoNameX, Archer83, Dragones, Kazane Sayuri, amy, The Dark Lady55, Ahappyfan96, blown-transistor, and the guest for reviewing! Looks like we're going post Avengers with this one! :D**

And here we go...

* * *

Steve couldn't help but wipe his eyes, though it streaked his face with soot and ash even more.

So that was it? Toni Stark was _really_ dead, and they were all alive because of her sacrifice.

She'd lain down on the wire, and not just for them. No, Toni saved the entire city of Manhattan and it's surrounding population with her final selfless act.

The super soldier couldn't have felt guiltier if he tried.

The entire team of heroes remaining on the ground stood there quietly, including the Hulk, really not knowing what to say to each other. With the exception of Bruce, they'd all had their doubts about the Iron Man pilot – the ever narcissistic, opinionated, stubborn and clever woman could get under just about anyone's skin.

"I guess she really is gone." Clint mumbled out loud, frowning over the entire situation.

Steve squeezed his eyes shut, absolutely hating to process those words. "She didn't deserve that fate. She didn't deserve half of the flak she got."

Even the Hulk, who was recovering on a rooftop, looked fairly distraught over Toni's departure from this world. Sadness laced the monster's features, and if one looked hard enough, they could see Dr. Banner's sorrowful, dark eyes shining through.

The moment of silence was short-lived, however. Thor interrupted the solemn mood, pointing to the sky and shouting. "Look!"

Steve turned his head in the direction Thor was pointing to, looking for whatever was making the Thunder God so excited. When he locked eyes onto the object, his heart skipped a beat.

It was Toni. She'd made it out. _She was alive_.

However, the genius superhero was making no move to slow her descent, making it highly likely that she'd crash into the hard concrete. At the speed she was falling at, Steve couldn't say with certainty that hitting the ground would be survivable, even in her suit.

"Why isn't she flying?!" Steve was getting upset, hoping Toni would snap out of it and land safely.

"I don't believe she can stop!" Thor looked nervous. "Someone needs to get to her and break her fall." Without another word, the demi-god began to swing his hammer, intent on saving the woman from near certain death.

Before Thor could act, though, the Other Guy came flying through the air, out of seemingly nowhere. He was able to catch Toni mid-jump, and used a near by building to slow his own fall on the way down. The green giant slid down the side of the building with ease, shielding the battered Mark VII from debris.

Upon landing, the Hulk made his way over to the group of heroes. In a surprisingly gentle move, the beast placed Toni cautiously on the ground near the group. Thor wasted no time ripping the faceplate of the armor off, tossing it haphazardly to the side.

The genius' dirty, sleeping face was enough to make Steve's heart leap into his throat. It wasn't that she appeared to be seriously injured, minus a small trickle of blood down her face starting from her hairline.

No, that wasn't it at all.

The super soldier was more startled by the fact that Toni Stark actually looked peaceful, completely accepting of the hand that she had been dealt. It was as if she'd known what her fate was going to be long before the rest of them did...possibly long before the battle of Manhattan.

Steve quickly dropped down beside the unmoving genius, removing his gloves without looking away from her.

"Ms. Stark...please wake up."

Agonizingly long seconds passed. No response.

The blonde hesitated for a moment, but did tentatively extended a hand towards Toni's face. Steve touched her cheek gently, hoping it would stir the fallen hero. Fingertips brushed the small woman's forehead, smearing the dirt and blood that had accumulated.

"Toni." Steve smiled at her still form tenderly, sadly. "Wake up, for me. Please."

The silence among the destruction was deafening for the young captain. He wanted nothing more than to remove the rest of the battered armor and check the woman for any sort of vital sign besides the arc reactor, but the he deemed the risk of potentially injuring Toni further too great for his liking in her current state. He had no clue if anything was broken or what state the woman underneath all the armor was in.

Still, seeing what was essentially Toni's life source without even a flicker of light was killing him on the inside.

"Toni, come on." The super soldier felt his eyes welling up with tears. "You can't leave yet. The world needs you." He gripped the suit's shoulders, giving them a slight shake. "We need you."

When he still got no reaction out of Toni, he began to lose any glimmer of hope of the brunette surviving this disastrous day. Steve cradled her limp body in his arms. "I need you." Leaning in the blonde's forehead touched Toni's; tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping onto hers. "I'm so sorry." He was whispering at this point, his voice being lost a long time ago in the chaos.

_'Please, God, don't let her die on me.'_

Maybe it was spur of the moment, maybe it was emotional overload, but Steve did not realize his next actions until his lips were planted fully on Toni's. Call it cliché, but somewhere deep inside Steve hoped that the fairy tales his mother used to read to him contained some truth. As he made contact, he silently pleaded with Toni to open her eyes once more.

He would have no such luck. Toni's lips were cold and pale, unmoving against Steve's own warm pink ones, and nothing he could do would change that.

Finally sitting back up, the blonde let out a breath, throat hitching in the process. This was all so very _wrong_.

The rest of the mismatched team of heroes now surrounded the pair, unable to find the words to say to their captain. It wasn't until the Hulk let out a deafening roar that Steve knew the world hadn't stood completely still.

In that instant, the arc rector flickered back to life, sending it's owner back into the world of the living with wide eyes and gasping for air. She looked around, disoriented, unsure of what was going on.

With groan and great effort, she managed to use her hoarse voice to speak. "What...what happened?"

Steve beamed at the Iron Man pilot, relief flooding his body. "We won."

"No..." Toni coughed, racking her whole body and setting her nerves alight with pain. "How am I back _here_?"

"Don't worry about it." Steve's smile never left as he brushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of her eyes. "The most important thing is that you're alive."

Toni groaned out loud, squeezing her eyes shut at all of the faces smiling at her. "Please tell me nobody kissed me or something." Steve's cheeks burned as Toni thankfully turned toward the Hulk, ignoring the sly grins from the rest of the group. "Especially you, Big Guy. No offense or anything, but I'm not into that."

The Hulk roared with what almost seemed like mirth, and Thor burst out with a hearty laugh at the scene before him while. It always made him happy to see such honest and genuine affections. "But, Woman of Iron, before you awoke the Captain..."

Steve cut him off with a look that was something between pleading and a full on glare. The demi-god simply threw his free hand up in surrender, his thunderous laughter growing louder by the minute as the other blonde grew more and more red in the the face.

Toni paid no mind to Thor and shifted to take the pressure off of her probably-broken hip, not even caring that the movement pressed her firmly up against a certain captain's chest. Steve tightened his grip on her, looking down at the battered woman with warmth in his eyes. "Are you going to be alright, Ms. Stark?"

Toni took a breath in an attempt to steady her voice. "Nothing a couple of cocktails and a nap can't cure, Spangles." Steve simply shook his head, chuckling.

That was convincing enough, right?

At that moment, Toni realized just how funny people tended to act when they thought someone was dead. It wasn't that she minded the soldier's actions, but she did find them odd considering how differently he'd acted toward her a scant few hours prior.

That's when everything came rushing back to Toni. The words she and Steve had gone back and forth with came rushing back in full force, making her stomach turn. _She needed to get away from him._ The genius tried sitting up without Steve's help, but instantly regretted it. Agonizing, fiery stabs of pain radiated from her hip, causing the billionaire to involuntarily shriek.

Steve braced her as she fell back, instantly worried about the brunette. "It doesn't look like you're alright to me..."

"I'll be fine." Toni's breath hitched, and she realized just how badly the chest plate of the Mark VII was bent inward, causing her air supply to be cut short. "I just need to get this armor off of me. I can't really breathe. But JARVIS is down so I can't get it o-"

She barely finished the thought before Steve acted.

With a squeaking, squealing sound, Toni felt a weight being removed from off of her chest, and her lungs burned at the sudden rush of air. "I can help with that." Steve tossed the chest plate (that was now little more than scrap metal) off to the side as if it were nothing. "I think your suit is kind of...beyond help...anyway."

_Beyond help. Funny. That was Toni felt about herself as well._

"Yeah...sure. Just not the left hip piece, please."

Steve's brow furrowed. "Is there a problem with that piece of armor?"

Toni shook her head. "I..." She quickly bit her tongue, not wanting to talk about the events that had transpired with Loki. She didn't need a lecture right now. "One of those things got me good, earlier. It's too painful to remove."

_'I'm also pretty sure that it's the only thing holding my hip together,'_ she thought bitterly, frowning.

Steve wasted no time in removing the armor piece by piece, being almost overly meticulous and careful not to injure Toni further. He frowned upon removing the forearm plates, unhappy at the sight of the long needles that came out of the woman's wrists as they were pulled away.

Toni seemed to sense the blonde's distaste, and decided to clue him in. "They deliver painkillers while I'm in the suit." She sputtered at the deep breath of air that entered her lungs.

Steve pulled the brunette close as she shuddered, intent on protecting her from the rest of the world if need be. "Why...?"

Toni shut her eyes again, her lids finally feeling too heavy to open. No one else needed to hear the answer to that question. That said, Toni made no move to answer it right away, and Steve took it as incentive to lift the injured woman up into his arms and get her help as quickly as possible.

"You guys apprehend Loki and meet up with Natasha. I'll let it be known that he's coming back to the base." Thor nodded and the Hulk grunted in acknowledgement. The thunder god looked on toward the captain and Toni, receiving an answer for his unasked question. I'm going to get Ms. Stark medical attention before things get any worse." Where Steve would find help he wasn't sure, but he would damn well try.

As if on cue, the comm link crackled to life with the cool toned voice of the Black Widow. "Head toward the outskirts of the city block, Cap. Away from the major damage." He had to strain to hear the redhead's voice, but he was able to make it out. "S.H.I.E.L.D is bringing backup, but they can't get to close because of the blocked streets."

Without more than confirmation that he'd heard her, Steve started off in that very direction. As he got out of earshot of the rest of the team, Toni forced her head up and locked eyes with the blonde, looking up at him with tired brown orbs.

Upon seeing - _really, truly seeing_ - the blonde's dirty face since she'd woken up from what she thought was a permanent slumber, Toni did the unexpected.

Yes, for the first time in ages, Toni Stark willingly, openly let tears fall in front of someone.

She smiled at the soldier, but it did not reach her eyes.

_Then again, none of Toni's smiles seemed to come from a genuinely happy place._

"...Because I'm not superhuman like you, Steve." The blonde blinked, partially caught off guard by the use of his first name by the genius. He hadn't expected an answer to his earlier question. "I'm no hero."

Toni did not last long after that. Her head drooped against the stunned soldier's chest as he continued to walk with her in his arms. Steve still responded to the brunette, though, even though she was thoroughly passed out. Leaning his head down slightly, he kissed Toni on the top of her head, murmuring into her hair.

_"You're a hero to me, Toni Stark."_

* * *

So we're at the awkward in-between phase before the story takes on a life of its own. Just bear with me and grab your flashlights, it might get a little dark in here.

And please review and let me know what you think! Reviews keep me going and let me know what you want to see. ***Reviews also let me know if you all want to see more, and will make me update quicker***

Keep in mind, I also do OC stories within the Avengers universe, so check those out too!

'Till next time!  
xBreeze


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